 |
| Senior
Hayley Leake
has the dubious honor of being the oldest player
on the roster in 2007-08. The Billikens will count
on her experience in the backcourt to run the
offense with the same efficiency and heady play
that she has demonstrated in her 3 years as point
guard |
 |
In addition to always
making the correct pass and avoiding three
pointers at all costs, Hayley loves discovering
new music, reading the nutritional content of
everyone else’s food, and writing really big words
on paper.
She becomes the first senior to ever write in the
player diaries and we look for her to give us a
different perspective of a collegiate student
athlete as someone who’s been there and done that.
Let’s follow Hayley as she experiences her last 5
months of being a Division 1 basketball player.
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
The Freshman
Diaries – HAYLEY LEAKE
Somewhere In-Between –
Diary Entry #4
Well, lets see... It has been a while. I know. I know.
Do not question my commitment in keeping you up to date
in my hectic life. The truth is, I have trouble keeping
up myself. Time just keeps flying by—8 games have
already came and went. Two of them we have captured. Six
more have escaped. I could go over the
“could-have-beens” and the “should-have-beens”, but why?
There is no way to go back. Not for even a second. There
is only room to move forward. And we will move forward.
Everyone has to move forward whether they want to or
not. Some people just stay in motion because of the laws
of life. Other people act. They act to become better.
They act because they refuse to be like everyone else.
They act in the fear of time - in the fear that tomorrow
will come and they will have nothing to show for it but
another day marked off their calendar.
So... Where does this team go from here? We go forward.
We go acting. I refuse to look at the past 8 games with
any type of negative emotion. I know how the world
works. You win. You lose. The middle ground somehow gets
lost. It is no wonder why we have children that throw
tantrums when they lose in a game of hide and seek. It
is no wonder that we have athletes that take illegal
substances to get ahead of the competition no matter
what the cost. It is no wonder that people are hired and
fired each day based upon a set of statistics and a set
of statistics alone. We have created a world that bases
so much of life on the destination that we forget the
journey...the most challenging, tear-wrenching, most
memorable experiences that one will have. These are the
experiences that show us how to live. And how not to
live for that matter. I am not going to look at a set of
numbers and drown myself. Drown the spirit of this team.
Maybe last year. Maybe the year before. But not
now...not now...
Yeah, 8-0 would be nice...it would be real nice. But the
worth of my senior year will not reflect a record...I
have full confidence that the destination of this team
will be everything that it should be. That will take
care of itself. But until then, I will be standing in
the middle...enjoying every second of it. Enjoying every
second of the six games that the world feels should have
broken me into pieces... Enjoying every second of the
two games that made me a champion for the night...And
constantly reflecting on everything in-between...
There is no way to go back...Not for even a
second...There is only room to move forward...
Hayley Leake
Class of 2008
Diary Entry #4 |
| |
| |
|
© Copyright
Shimmy Gray, All Rights Reserved. |
|
|