March 8, 2012. Ogden, Utah. Harrison Blvd. Weber State University. Social Science Bldg.
*BANG*
"Whew!"
After closing the door, I walked down the hallway. To be honest, I was extremely busy.
"(Hey, how'd it go?)"
As I crossed the corner and exited the building, a girl leaning on a green pick-up truck got my attention.
Sally, who had an extremely concerned look on her face, asked me about how I did on my SAT's.
"(I think I completely screwed it up.)"
"(Really?)"
"…"
"(No, no way. You're kidding, right?)"
"Hahahahaha"
I've been preparing for the SAT since I was in Korea.
Evidence-based Reading and Writing, Math, Essay. The SAT was divided into 3 sections, each section being 800 points each, with a total of 2400 points.
Although WSU was in the minor division, which I wasn't aware of, they were still ranked quite high in the western division. It may not be the ivy league, but it was on the upper half of the best colleges.
Including Stanley and Sally's score, the highest scored was 1500 points.
I hadn't received a full scholarship, but as a walk-in special sports student, scoring at least 1350 would be a stable grade for me. It seemed like WSU has already exhausted all of its scholarship funds.
If 100 points was a perfect score, I'd have to score at least 60.
"(You're a bad boy!)"
"(No. I really couldn't read anything at first.)"
"(Shut up! Just get in the truck.)"
Sally stuck her tongue out at me and got in the truck, I followed and sat on the passenger side.
Huh? What's this?
Before starting the car, Sally turned her body and faced me. I felt a bit… uncomfortable?
"(What…)"
"(It's nothing. You don't have to go back home, right?)"
"(Probably? I shou-)"
I was left in shock.
She pulled me toward her and gently kissed me. She seemed to be happy about her choice as she started the car and stepped on the accelerator.
"(You know this well, but I'm your father's…)
"(I know. It's just. I felt good.)"
After our game against Team Great, I noticed a lot of changes.
One change I noticed was the fact that the people that I run into on the street, on the way to Café Vilebella, would be friendly and greet me. Sally said people were doing this because they were accepting me as part of their community.
["(People may seem to be cold and unfriendly at first, but once they open up they are quite nice.)"]
Sally, who was happier than anyone else, also treated me differently.
No, would it be better if I call it a transformation?
She dyed her hair black and her makeup looked different. She still wore her comfortable exercise clothes and had her clumsy personality, but she was much livelier around me.
David had always told me to be careful, so I kept my distance from Sally. But that wasn't easy for me.
Aren't I a man after all?
Putting her personality aside, Sally was on the prettier side of the spectrum. As I was living here, I found myself getting attached to people.
"(Your mother must be proud of you.)"
"(You think?)"
"(Yep. My mom likes you a lot! She really thinks about you a lot. Oh yeah! I should message her.)"
"(Huh? Wait, hey!)"
"(Be quiet, I have to focus on sending it.)"
With her left hand on the wheel and her right hand on the phone, it seemed like she was more focused on her phone more than she was paying attention to the road. Afraid for my life, I put my left hand on the steering wheel and watched the road.
I didn't even have my driver's license yet.
"(Huh?)"
Just then, I felt a soft touch on my left hand.
"(I think it's better if we just go home like this?)"
"..."
As I quickly moved my hand, Sandy burst into a laughter and refocused on the road. In front of a house I was familiar with, there were faces and people that I knew well.
Ah, that was tough.
The ride back home.
Wait. Did I just say home?
"Hey, Kim Minhyuk! How'd it go?"
"Hahahahahaha."
Seeing how David looked as he swang the door open to see me made me burst into laughter. The final test scores hadn't come out yet, but I was confident I was going to pass.
Considering how delicate my stay here was, if I were to find out I'd be here permanently would make happy all the way down to my heart.
From now on, Ogden is my home, where my family and friends are.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ogden, Utah. Kingston Drive.
"(Woah. If it's like that your score might be higher than what I got?)"
"(Hahaha. Barron, if it weren't for football, you wouldn't have been able to even come to the gate.)"
"(Well I guess that's true.)"
In 'commemoration' of my SAT's, Stanley and Claire prepared a feast of a dinner. Foods that I've only seen in movies were in front of me. Not only just Stanley's family, but everyone else that was living in the house was there as well.
Leon was there, already chomping on the food as if he knew he was already invited.
Stanley believed that the more people you share a good occasion with, the better.
"(Anyway, I'm always proud of you. I guess it's true Asians are smart?)"
"(Hey! Isn't that a racist comment?)"
"(Is that so?)"
As Sally quickly defended me from Barron's racial comment, Leon looked at Stanley and me with an entertained look on his face. I didn't do anything wrong, but I couldn't help but to slowly and carefully look at Stanley.
I really couldn't tell. He was either naïve or just ignoring it, because all he did was keep eating the food on his plate.
"(Anyway. Will you start training right away?)"
"(He should be able to attend practices.)"
Stanley answered that question as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.
"(There is still a lot of stuff to the whole process. Once the SAT scores are announced, there's going to be additional paperwork to fill out. It'll probably be difficult to just focus on exercise and practice for now. There's tutoring on top of that.)"
"(Now that I think of it, I don't know how we did all that? Don't you think so, Barron?)"
"(What?)"
"(Nevermind, nothing.)"
Watching Barron only focus on shoving food into his face made me realize how much this guy ate.
That does make sense considering how big his body is. According to Leon, Barron was faster, much stronger and jumped much higher. I agreed with the first 2 points he brought out, but the third didn't make much sense to me.
Leon was able to jump around 35 inches high. His highest jump so far was around 41 inches high.
As Anna talked about that question with Leon, Barron finally understood what he was talking about and started to open his mouth.
"(I don't know about all of that. My agent did everything for me.)"
The National Football League didn't have any limits or rules for agents. It was possible for a high school player to have an agent, and it's 99% sure for a college player to have an agent. The NBA was similar since it's a prerequisite for a player to have an agent before drafting.
That meant an amateur player was not allowed to use an agency.
As I turned to David to translate what Barron was saying, Barron winked to me to tell me not to worry.
Your SAT scores affect around 30% of your chances to get accepted into a university in America.
Your high school GPA and tutoring affect it as well, but your Letter of Recommendation is the most important.
If a prominent person wrote your letter, all you have to do is pass the SAT cutline to guarantee your acceptance into a school.
Unfortunately for me, I didn't have any Letter of Recommendation.
"(Well, there's nothing to worry about. We're gonna be here to help you.)"
"(Oh, of course! Davion seems to really like you.)"
"Haha."
In our match against Team Great, I was able to gain the trust of the WSU players. Especially Davion Berry, wanted me to be accepted to WSU no matter what happens.
It seemed like our successful tweaked jaguar strategy left a good impression on him.
"(Why? Is there some sort of problem?)"
Leon noticed my bothered expression and threw that question. Yes, there was a problem. I didn't want to get the hopes up of the people in WSU.
I felt a little burdened because of all these expectations.
"(The last game we played was really impactful.)"
As the atmosphere got a bit tense, everyone put their forks down and looked at me. I felt a little bad, but there seemed to be an elephant in the room. I felt it would be best to get it out of the way now so I continued the conversation.
I was only able to score 8 points in the last game. Out of my 9 attempts, I only connected 3. From the 3-point line and low post, I've had 4 shots blocked.
People said that I played well defensively and contributed a lot to the call plays, but it's important to note that Team Great didn't have a strong defense.
Nevertheless, if there were no perfect openings, all my offensive skills would be deadweight.
On the other hand, it was different for the other 4 players. They all had individual playstyles that allowed them to reach the rim, with enough skill to beat a player in a 1:1 situation.
"(I felt a huge gap. More than I ever have.)"
I could seem like an average player from the team's perspective. The majority of the spectators would agree that I am a good team player as well.
But I felt very differently. Although my feelings changed as my play and mood changed, after the game I felt that I had to give up everything I had done.
"(I'm not saying I have to simply stop playing defensive screens, or team play.)"
I was too narrow-minded. I was too focused on the idea that I wasn't good at anything.
"(Erm, Minhyuk? Follow me.)"
"(Yes?)"
Stanley suddenly got up and took me to the living room, as the others went back to eating Claire's cooking and conversing with one another.
As I heard soft laughter coming from the dining room, I felt a little sorry for everyone.
"(Sit down for a minute. We're going to go back to the table, so let's watch just 5 minutes.)"
"(Watch?)"
"(Yeah. Just wait a second.)"
Stanley opened the drawer below the TV and took something out and put it in front of me. It was a bundle of DVD's, with the word "Duke" written on top.
Duke University was one of the best NCAA major division schools and it also was the school that Stanley graduated from.
"(Watch #31.)"
"…"
It was a face I was familiar with.
"(You probably know this well, too. He's in Miami playing alongside LeBron. Shane Battier He was called "Mr. Everything" in his college days.)"
"Mr. Everything?"
"(Yup. He was the perfect puzzle piece to ever play in the NBA. Like he's called, he was able to play any role. If the team needed points, he scored, if there was a center foul-out he'd play under the rim. In games without a point guard, he was able to play more than 10 assists.)"
Stanley took the remote and briefly paused the video. There we see Battier under UNC's basket trying to snatch the ball amongst a mob of players.
"(He's not exactly the strongest player. But he survived 13 years in the NBA, receiving love from everyone he played with. Do you know why?)"
"(No…)"
"(Battier never let his weaknesses affect his mentality and performance. That's right. Of course, you have to work very hard to play in the NBA. But having that sort of mental attitude is not good for you. Especially since you're a walk-on special student.)"
"…"
Stanley was trying to say this.
An over-sea student who wasn't here because of a scholarship. There were already many great players on the team and it was possible to improve as I played with the team.
WSU didn't need a player who'd score, rebound, or create assists.
If that was the case, Stanley wouldn't have taken care of me as much as he did. He said he saw something special in me.
"(Something special?)"
"(That's right. You could potentially be a "Mr. Everything", like Battier.)"
"…"
"(Sometimes there will be times where you'd have to make sacrifices for the best. You've proved to be a smart and clever fellow. In just 2 months, you're able to comfortably talk to me. There's no need to criticize yourself too much. Let's take care of it one at a time. Understand?)"
"(Yes. Thank you.)"
"(Haha. It's nothing. Well then! Let's go back. The food's getting cold.)"
I followed Stanley's steps and headed back to the dining room.
People started to talk to me as if nothing happened, we all laughed and had a good time together once again. Stanley's words may be right.
The distance that I felt from these people and the players alike started to get smaller and smaller. In order to do this, I had to loosen up, moving one step at a time.
That's right. Let's just focus on training for now and figure out what I can offer to the team.
There will be plenty of time to think of the more complicated stuff.