Journal Article — Hooped Dreams: Internal Growth, External Stagnation, and One Man’s Search for Work — by Anonymous

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to play professional basketball for a living. I still do to this day in fact. Watching ten guys throw a ball through a hoop looks easy enough on television. I figured that I could do the same thing. However, there was one major problem. I was too short, slow, unskilled, undisciplined, so on and so forth, to reach that goal. As I grew older, I played less and less to the point where I was a bit embarrassed whenever I stepped onto the court. But whenever anyone asks the question, “So what do you want to do when you grow up?” the answer remains the same. “Play in the NBA.” I say this with a look that tells people how serious I am. This is not so much a story of my failed hoop dreams. The world has seen and heard enough of young African-American men not making it to the pros. It is the story of an individual searching for a career choice and a place in today’s society. It involves fits and starts, some times takes two steps forward, other times three steps back.