A few years ago, I was playing basketball in a park with some friends when my father happened to walk by and continued  to watch the game. Afterwards, sitting at home, my dad smiled at me and said, “I saw you play today… and man, you are such a competitor! You never quit!” Now that might have just been my dad trying to make me feel good, but at that moment, I vowed to myself that no matter what I did (whether I was good at it or not), I would be a competitor. I would be passionate and committed to making myself better and stand up to any challenges. For me, nothing brings out that passion more than sports.

One of the hardest challenges in my life was when I dislocated my shoulder and was forced to sit out from playing sports for almost 3 months. That time not playing made me truly realize how much sports means to me. My life revolves around sports. In High School, I was on nearly every athletic team the the school offered, and participated in sports 7 days a week. For me, it didn’t matter whether I never got any playing time on those teams (which happened more than I wanted), or if I played every minute of the game; being on those teams was about bringing out my inner competitor. Playing sports allowed me to push myself, and somewhere in all the blood, sweat, and emotions of the game was an opportunity to show people what I was truly made out of. There was nothing more sweet than the feeling of victory; nothing more painful than the stinging agony of defeat. It was Ezra against the world, and I was not going to lose without a fight.

I will hopefully bring that focused competitiveness and work ethic to Baruch this semester. Besides possibly dying from starvation, I don’t have many concerns regarding my classes. I know most will require my hardest effort, but success is within my reach. I do hope to join some kind of club in the future when I finally figure out this maze of a campus. All in all, I am definitely enjoying Baruch thus far.