As my four years at Stevens Point come to a close, I’ve used the last couple of weeks to reflect on my basketball career here. I’ve learned so many lessons in the time I’ve spent on this team. This is going to be long, so bear with me, but if this post can impact one person in the way my Stevens Point experience has impacted me, it will be a success. I’ve been reflecting on the lessons I’ve learned while being here. And while there are a lot, I’ve shortened it down to five lessons. Here they are: 1. The truth is always better than a well-dressed lie. I’m not sure there has been one person that has humbled me more times than Coach Sem, but I will always be thankful because he told me what I NEEDED to hear, not what I wanted to hear. 2. Hard work does NOT guarantee success, and requires sacrifice, but you will NEVER regret working hard. I’ve always thought that the countless hours that my teammates and I spent in the gym would guarantee a title for us, but it didn’t. And for some reason, an injury took away my senior year. But I will never regret the extra agility drills and workouts in the awful summer heat of Quandt gym. It gave me friendships and memories that will last a lifetime. 3. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in times of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy.” This quote sums up our class’s tenure at UWSP. From getting our sophomore post-season taken away, to losing key players to injuries, to even losing our head coach for half a year, there was always some adversity for us to conquer. I’m sure my teammates would agree that we are better men because of it and would not change a thing. 4. Humility in victory and defeat. While it is one of the “five pillars” of our program, and sounds cliche, this is one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned in my life. There’s so much more to winning than meets the eye. Some teams don’t hold this to as high of standard as us, but I’d much rather be humble in defeat than cocky in a victory. 5. Using your platform to benefit the world around you outweighs being “cool” in the eyes of others. Thank y’all for reading. #1Point