We are all given our different chances to shine in life. And doesn’t it always seem like the harder you have to work for that chance the greater the glory is once you’re finished? The feeling you get inside, that you are on top of the world and that nobody can take you down. Those are some of the things I was feeling that day in the basketball gym.

The stunning and thrilling moment happened about three years ago. It was the moment my team and I had all been waiting for- the championship game. My team, united like an army, had fought viciously with the other team the entire game, like animals brawling over their prey, until finally it was the fourth quarter with about fifteen seconds left. My heart was pounding with excitement, yet it was also very full of nervousness.

The score was all tied up and the team that had now become our enemies had possession of the ball. The swift and agile player dribbled the ball up the court dodging our players as if he were dodging bullets heading straight for him. He had gotten by all of us and was now leaping from the ground ready to take his shot. While shooting the whistle sounded from the referee signaling a foul on the play. The player was awarded with two free throws. He stepped up to the line with sweat from all of his hard sopping down his face and his hair slicked back to his head. His hands were shaking with the fear of knowing that these shots could decide the out come of the game. The suspense continued to grow in the gym as the final seconds of the game were quickly approaching. He lifted the ball up to the side of his face getting ready to shoot. We all watched tentatively as the ball left his hands into the air and dropped through the net like a brick falling to the ground. The opposition was now up by one point, as he got ready to shoot his next free throw. The ball flew into the air and then, “thunk, the ball rattled off of the rim as a player on my team jumped with everything he had in him and grasped the ball in the air squeezing as hard as he could to make sure that he wouldn’t drop it.

As soon as this happened I began sprinting down the court as if I were running for my life heading for the open spot I noticed near my team’s basket. My teammate was also running down the court with the ball as the time ticked slowly off the clock. It seemed as if the clock was a bomb just waiting to explode and end the day. I finally reached my destination and turned around waiting for the ball. It seemed like years until finally it reached my hands. I heard the crowd screaming and shouting so loud it was as if the noise was piercing my ears. Thoughts were blurring through my head at a thousand miles per hour. I was thinking of what could happen; I could either be the hero that everyone loved or the person that nobody wanted to even look at. Now they were counting the time down, “5,4,3,2..”. I pulled the ball up ready to shoot. This was my chance to shine; to show what I was made of, I wasn’t going to just let it get away from me. I released the ball from my fingertips watching in fear as the ball flew through the air like an eagle. The buzzer sounded, as the suspense grew even stronger with everybody in the gym watched the ball. “Swoosh”, I had made the shot! I couldn’t believe what had just happened. It seemed like a dream until my whole team began jumping happily on me cheering as loud as they could. We all celebrated feeling the sweet and joyous success that came from winning the championship.

It was a great moment that will stay in my memory forever. I had fought hard and deserved to win the game. I had the chance to take what was mine, and took it. And because of that, at that moment I truly was on top of the world.