During club hours I went to the Baruch basketball gym on the 3rd floor of the basement. I didn’t have to sign in anywhere, I just walked in. This fulfilled my student life requirement. I wanted to go to this because basketball is one of my favorite hobbies and I was looking forward to meeting new friends who had the same interest as I do. I didn’t know many people at the time, so I couldn’t ask anyone if they wanted to come with me. I played basketball throughout high school, and I play in parks pretty often. All it takes is a flashy pass to spark a friendship. I entered the gym and there were only two half courts available. I was really confused because there was another gym right across, and two kids were shooting around, but they said the gym was closed. There were also a lot of people waiting for next game, so I approached a couple of dudes and asked if they had next, they said yes and I could join in with them. There were people from all grades playing against each other. My first game I played well, however, we ended up losing. I was guarding a junior, who was really quick, so it was kind of difficult to keep up with him, but I did my best. Like I said before, all it takes is a flashy pass to spark a friendship and that’s exactly what happened. I made a behind the back pass to a wide open teammate, and he finished the lay-up. He said nice pass and dapped me up. For the rest of the game we had trouble guarding a 6’6 senior. While on the sideline, I was talking to some of my teammates, and I found out we had some stuff in common. We were both from Long Island, and we lived relatively near each other. We ended up becoming friends and decided we would play against the next team together. I had to wait 40 minutes until the next game because there were so many people waiting. I wish I was able to shoot around while waiting instead of having to just sit around. During the second game, we played much better because we had got one game under the belt, and we were much more comfortable with each other and our playing styles. Me and my friend scored 10 of our 16 total points and we ended up winning the game. Although, during this time I was able to engage in casual conversation amongst those who were waiting as well. Overall, I enjoyed my experience going to the Baruch basketball courts, as I was able to enjoy my hobby and meet new people at the same time. I definitely plan on going to more open gym opportunities in the future, and I’ll probably ask the friend I made to come with me. I ended up subscribing to a list where Baruch will tell me every time the gym is available for kids to use.
A Blogs@Baruch site
