Jesse Musinguzi, Grade 12
UWCEA Moshi

I’ve been playing basketball for six years now. At my previous schools, I was always recruited to join the basketball team because I was tall. I took an interest in basketball after watching the older kids play and started going to the practices, which would later become my most horrifying experiences up to that point. I moved to a different school, where I would only spend one year, and this meant a new basketball team. I made it a point to join the team as quickly as possible. This was fairly easy considering that I was again the tallest on the team and the basketball was just around the corner. We didn’t win a single game that season. I moved to UWC East Africa the next year and also joined the basketball team there. This time, I wouldn’t be the tallest person on the team. It was easy to mesh with the new team because everyone was very welcoming and we all had the same goal in mind; we wanted to win. Here I would reach the pinnacle of my basketball career. Being a team sport meant that we had to do everything together. If someone messed up, we would all run together. If someone had success, on or off the court, we would celebrate together. We would watch film together and even eat together. We are more than a team, we’re a brotherhood, a family. There are so many things one can learn from basketball. Through basketball, I learned the value of teamwork when we won almost all our games that season, even those against older people. I learned the importance of attention to detail from a few of my teammates with whom I shared a passion for the game. Basketball has taught me to see failure as an opportunity to learn. We had lost the finals of a tournament at our school, and that hit us hard, but regardless, we dusted ourselves off and worked together to improve, and this showed when we won the next tournament. Throughout the season, we played many good teams, and each game came with a valuable lesson, especially the ones with the older players. Through basketball, I’ve connected with people from different places on a deeper level because of our shared love for the game. Through basketball at UWC East Africa, I’ve made life long friends, traveled to different schools, and have learned a lot of valuable lessons. I hope to continue playing next year, and since I will be a veteran, I look forward to meeting my future teammates, going on more journeys, learning more, and winning. A lot of winning.