Um , so I'd say body language and just the way you do everything is like super important here . I think that for my teammates , um , I've learned the importance of culture , um , and personal like work ethic and that like what you put into something is what you get out of that , and not just at a skill level , but As goes the team , like how much you put into the team is how much you get out of it , cause basketball is such a team sport , and you can't get something done by trying to do it all for yourself . So I think Um , relying on your teammates , even though sometimes it's , it sounds fun to try and do it all yourself , but you really need help from other people .
But um for me , I was able to kind of like make friends and socialize through basketball and then like do outside activities like hot yoga , go for walks and lifting with other athletes from other sports , and I think that kind of fostered . A healthier relationship with a sport because sometimes you worry about doing too much or focusing too narrow on one thing and burning out . So I think that was always a worry , but my parents were really great with like having me do other things , and I had a lot of friends that played different sports , so I dipped my toe into other things too .
I'm on the women's basketball team at Northwestern University , and I'm from the Boston area . I think some of the best advice that I've been given from coaches are to control what you can control and Um , those two things are like how hard you work and your attitude . So I think I've always been really big on like , no matter the outcome or the uncontrollables , having a smile on my face and being a good teammate and having a good attitude or like the most important things you can do , like my bread and butter .
Because if you find that someone doesn't want you , like that is a blessing to know , because you want to go somewhere where you're wanted and where like you have a good relationship , so you don't wanna , you don't want them to fall in love with the version of you that's not authentic to yourself , so I'd say be yourself , and then also when you're on the court to Um , like , not , it's not all about just like how many points you score , all your stats . I'd say like who you are as a person on the court or on the field or whatever it is , like how good of a teammate you are , how you act when you're on the bench , how you talk to your parents , how you talk to your coaches . That is also so important and coaches do look at that .
So I think Um , relying on your teammates , even though sometimes it's , it sounds fun to try and do it all yourself , but you really need help from other people . So I think putting time , effort , and energy into your team , your teammates , and your relationships really shows on the court . Yeah , so during COVID , I ran some basketball clinics with um with my sisters too in the local um like youth basketball community .
