Author: m.liuim

My biggest dream of all dreams is to one day become the head coach of the New York Knicks lead them to multiple NBA championships. This dream may be very hard to attain, but I try to keep it alive as much as possible. I currently coach middle schoolers (Grades 6-8), every Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday for two hours each class. Each class is a different grade, consisting of 20-25 kids each class. My main way of coaching them is to have them play full court scrimmages against each other. Drills are obviously important too and thats how each class starts but my belief is that there is no better way to learn than experience. As they their scrimmages, I call out each player for what they are doing wrong. For example, if I call a foul on someone and he does not understand the call, I explain it to him so he knows not to do that in the future. Also, setting an illegal/moving screen is something that I have to call them out for a lot. I see a lot of them even after a short time progressing, and understanding the game more each time they come out. Drills to me only focuses on a specific thing, while scrimmaging focuses on everything. Not just being able to play with teammates, or playing full court games, but also understanding the atmosphere of the game. I put on the scoreboard with a designated time for each game. So there are buzzer beaters and late game fouling. You cannot do drills on how to handle late game moments, you could only practice those moments that win and lose you the game through experience. Not only are my players learning, but I am learning. Not just how to be a better coach, but also how to communicate with players and help them get better. Hopefully one day I will be the Head Coach of the New York Knicks, but for now, as an 18 year old, I am happy with coaching middle schoolers.

On Monday I had a Writer’s Conference with my English Professor, Nadim Essey. In the meeting, my professor and I discussed two things, how I am doing in his class and what am I writing about for My Research Paper that is due.

Professor Essey said that work wise I am doing well in the class. I have submitted all of my assignments, and have been receiving above average grades on most of them. He said the only area I need to improve on is participating more during class.

Then we went on to talk about my Research Paper that is due in the upcoming weeks. My professor assigned my class a Research Paper on a novel we read called The Day of the Locust by Nathaniel West. He wanted me to come into the meeting with a topic to talk about. I decided that I am going to write about how past experiences effected the main character’s life in the future. He approved of my topic and then went on to offer ideas on how to approach it. He said I would need to find some psychological evidence to support my claim. In addition, he gave me certain in keywords that I could search up in databases to find some more details for my paper. We also went on to talk about certain scenes in the novel in which I could add to my paper.

After we finished talking about my paper, he handed me a paper that helps me keep up with my grade this semester. It showed how much each assignment is worth and all I have to do is put in what I got on each assignment and do the math. As the meeting concluded I learned I have been doing better than I expected in English class and some advice about my Research Paper.

 

On that Thursday I was debating on whether or not to go to the Hillel Club that afternoon because my English Professor assigned a four page essay to do. But I pushed off working on the essay and I went, and it was worth it. That day the Hillel Club said they were going to have a speaker and that there will be a lot of food. When I saw that message I assumed it would be the typical guy who comes every Wednesday to give us a twenty minute motivational lecture with food and drinks on the side, but instead it was someone else and it was not just twenty minutes. That day the event lasted about an hour and a half because on that Thursday they brought in a singer and songwriter from Israel named Noa Bentor, who is a two time Breast cancer survivor. She went on to tell the story about her life, while trying to show students like us that there are people like her who go through harder things in life. She started off her story about how she was just living an ordinary life and that she would sing and make songs on her free time. Then she went on to tell us how hard it was to hear that she has been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. She said she was crying for days and did not really know what to do. Also, she believed that she would be cancer free one day and that she never really thought of death. During her first time with cancer she used singing to make her happy because she said that the chemotherapy was brutal and she was also upset that she had no hair anymore. Along with singing, her friends and family really helped her get through with it. They were always there for her and they always made her happy. She believed that having friends and family is very important in order to help you fight cancer. She then went on to say about how she was happy after being cancer free and that she kept singing and writing songs. About two years later her doctor made her get an MRI on her breasts and from that she knew the cancer was back. She said it was much worse having it the second time around because the radiation during chemotherapy increased. And even though she experienced it already, she became more scared because this time she started realizing that death may be near. That still did not stop her from singing and writing new songs. She had to stay strong through the whole process, especially because she had to get a double vasectomy. Again her friends and family were there for and never left her side all the way to the end. Thankfully she became cancer free again and now is still singing and writing as well as telling people her life story. That event that day really made the audience, including myself, be more thankful about what we have in life, and I am very thankful that I chose to go to the Hillel Club that day.