While grade 11 student Baran O. has big dreams of becoming a pro at basketball, he is thinking a lot about balancing out his academics, too. Playing basketball may even help with academics.

What follows is Baran’s story, in his own words:

I started playing basketball seriously in 6th grade, and I just feel like it’s a way of pushing me forward even though I don’t feel like pushing myself at all. When I play basketball, I’m fired up, I have my energy going, crazy amounts of speed, the adrenaline, everything towards that game that puts me up there, in my standards. This school [AISB] has been my life, it’s exactly my life here, you know, it’s hard to imagine moving schools at this time, it’s been really hard. After I’m done with high school, I would love to go to the U.S., of course, play basketball professionally, D3, D2, D1, and of course even in the NBA; but I’m just thinking about what’s happening right now, and thinking about the future when the future comes. 

What I do is as soon as I get home I take one hour and a half to finish my homework and everything that I need to do for school. Then I calm myself down by playing some basketball, playing basketball with other people, and firing myself up, which is like a workout for me playing two to three hours of basketball. Once I’m done with everything, I’m tired, exhausted, relaxed. Then I see if I have any upcoming deadlines that I need to do for school, or summatives that are coming up; I study for them, and my time is managed.