Ulysses Cabinatan Comments

Zackery Klocke 801 Nile Kinnick Dr. S Adel, Iowa 50003 December 4,2015 Dear Champs Ulysses Cabinatan, When I first looked at this poem I thought it was going to be just another boring poem about basketball and how it takes work to be the best. But after I started reading it I realized it was nothing like that. It gave advice and was relatable in so many ways. It made me feel like if I took the words of this poem to heart I could achieve many great things in my life. It really made me think a different way of how to live. “Play with enthusiasm and joy”. This line also affected the way I act towards my friends and family and everyone around me. I Chose this poem because I love to play basketball and thought that it might be cool to read a poem on one of my favorite things to do but I didn’t know that it would change the way I think or the way I do things in my life. For example, before I read this poem I took the easy way out of everything. Did minimum work, didn’t listen to my teachers, and was pretty much lazy and took everything for granted. But after reading this poem I realized how much better I could be and how much more I could achieve if i actually started applying myself to everything I do in life. So I started doing all my homework and listening closely to the teachers and trying to understand everything that they taught me. I also started to apply myself more to more than just school like basketball and also helping around the house a lot more with chores and babysitting.”So keep an eye on the ball and focus on the goal”. This line from the poem also made me think about what goals I want to have in life and how to achieve them. Like making more friends is a goal of mine. I thought of what i wanted and the way to achieve it. The way I thought of to achieve this one is to talk to people I don’t normally talk to or hang out with. Another goal is to get a pay raise at my job. My steps to achieve it was to ask what needed to get done and then get it done and move on to the next thing and to also work as best as I possibly could. So after reading your poem I want to really thank you for changing the way I think and act about everything I do. I also want to thank you for putting it in words that I can relate to and apply in my everyday life so thank you. Sincerely Zackery Klocke