Health, Basketball, + Finance

Being the co-pilot of my life since the day I was born exhausted me. I wasn’t even allowed to play sports that involved physical contact until I was 11. But I was tired of feeling excluded.

I was born with one stunted kidney that had to be removed when I was 3 days old, and my other kidney malfunctioned. Physical sports could be the death of me. Going to parties in which sports were the main attraction meant that I would have to sit and watch my friends have fun. For most, visits to the hospital were occasional; for me, it was a constant part of my life. I felt trapped.

One day after school, I dialed my mom: “I signed up for the basketball team.”

When I made up my mind to train for the basketball team, I played for 60 days straight for 2-3 hours each day with the mindset that every game was a war. I released all my contained energy with careful balance: I needed to be in full control of myself. Unleashing all the desire to play that had been stored within me for 12 years helped me play to the best of my ability. One week in, I was nominated by my teammates to become captain. At that point, I felt included. I felt honored. After only two months, I was awarded the best player’s award in my grade. I couldn’t have been prouder of my hard work. I improved my school’s basketball team overall performance, becoming the 9th best school in the city out of more than 50 others. I developed a greater sense of confidence and improved self-esteem.

I loved leading my team and not feeling excluded for the first time in sports.

LeBron was my first exposure to non-Brazillian basketball. His wealth and leadership as a professional basketball player was fascinating. In his rookie year alone at only 19 years old, he made approximately 4 million dollars. The doctor who saved my life doesn’t even make 50 thousand dollars. It was clear that basketball players – at least NBA players – had more access to money than doctors.

I found this surprising as doctors free people from death’s grasp while basketball players shoot a basketball into a hoop. This concept provoked immeasurable doubt and uncertainty in my mind about how the world functions in terms of money. Who decides who gets the most amount of money? Why are some professions more profitable than others?

I began to wonder: How does money actually grow?

When playing basketball with my father (my best friend), I addressed him directly:

“Dad, what do you do?”

After hearing his complex, 20-minute explanation, I concluded that it didn’t sound that interesting. However, one fact he mentioned puzzled me: he discussed how his profession as a Finance Director generates more money than most basketball players and most doctors. He explained how being a top-tier financial leader requires a good sense of vision (calculating the risk of an action) and tremendous confidence to proceed with your actions. After researching his occupation, my interest in finance sparked. Not only the prospect of making money captivated me, but learning about how rapidly money can grow (or lose value) in the stock market intrigued me.

I view myself as a future leader in the finance field. Just like my doctor, my father, and LeBron have respectfully taken the responsibility to solve problems while assessing the risks of doing so in their professional lives, I want to do this on my own. Meanwhile, I am taking control of my own health/life through healthy dieting, weight training, and drinking enough water to the point where I am able to differentiate between brands. I want to stay in control of my life and make decisions because I want to, not because I am told to.

I am the pilot of my life, and it exhilarates me.