Take a deep breath.
In these precious years of undergraduate life many lessons are learned that shape or solidify us with certain values beliefs and perceptions of our world. For many of us college is a time to re-evaluate all areas of thought or perspectives we hold to tread down every avenue that makes us who we are and be ready and willing to take a good honest look at life.
And most of all such a time can bring about those defining moments that might direct our lives and understanding of what matters most to us. Those brief strokes in time can tell us more about ourselves than any textbook or seminar could ever aspire to.
A revelation if you will.
It could be what major we ultimately decide to stick with. It could be that significant other who no longer can be described as only significant. It could be that cracked window of opportunity we never considered going through until something or someone came along and sparked an idea.
Whatever they are those defining moments are paramount to a true college experience to looking at those zeros in the negative on your bank statement and saying “It was worth it.”
These moments also hold true in the athletic realm. Not just for the players themselves but also for those lucky enough to witness those memories athletes provide for us. From a game-winning three-pointer to a perfectly timed header off a corner kick the teams we love most can bring some of us emotional highs— and lows— comparable to little else.
I’m a die-hard NBA Sacramento Kings fan. I remember 2002 when the Kings played the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals like it was yesterday. Before then I had no interest in basketball or sports in general for that matter. But the whole city buzzed with enthusiasm and team spirit unlike anything I’d witnessed before. The billboards the banter the becoming one in mind and body with perfect strangers all wanting the same result all waiting to explode with jubilation at something I had considered trivial only a week prior.
What a feeling.
Even though the defining moment was a Robert Horry three-pointer in game 4 that led to the Kings demise– a shot that haunts me to this day— that experience changed my life.
I spent the rest of my pre-college time captivated by sports. I was a Kings fan then a San Francisco Giants fan and then a Philadelphia Eagles fan. It was like magic to me. The way I was swept into an array of passionate feelings for a group of athletes I now viewed as brothers was something I couldn’t put into words.
I’d follow every game and ride the emotional rollercoaster to an embarrassing degree. My teams and I were one in the same. I now knew what it meant and felt like to be a fan and I liked it. It redefined what I viewed as worthy of my time. Since I’m writing this with the intent of continuing down the path of sportswriting as a profession it’s safe to say that my discovered love of sports has had a dramatic impact on the man I am now and the one I hope to be.
That was my defining moment. Since 2002 I have had other revelations that have altered the lens in which I saw things through. In and out of the classroom I have had light bulbs switch on that had lain dormant for far too long. It’s clear that the way I think and feel about a host of things is much more satisfying than when I walked down freshman dorm row in what seems like an eternity ago.
If I could have you take something from this reflection it would be this: Defining moments can come from anywhere at any time. Whether it be through sports classes or relationships it’s those times that illuminate these paths we maybe hadn’t considered important before.
You can’t look for those moments. They just happen. As legendary basketball coach Pat Riley so aptly put it “Life is not measured by the number of breaths one takes but by the moments that take our breath away.”
Exhale.
