NANA ANTWI-BOASIAKO

“My story really began when I was 11 and my mother died from cancer. I had watched her suffer and fight it which was the worst part. She never really got to see me play basketball as she was working late nights to early mornings. At that time, I was just very crushed and over time, I began to feel numb to it. The part that really started to get to me was me getting inside my own head, doubting myself and thinking negatively upon myself. As I was getting to that point where I could potentially play college basketball. I would usually get in my head if I make a bad play or something like that. Then also listening to the crowd as they would say ‘do this,’ and, ‘do that.’ I could never really play with a free mind because I’m thinking: ‘I’m trying to do this for my mom’ while also trying not mess up... For the longest time, I was fighting against myself. Even though the life of a college athlete is great, some people just don’t get what we go through physically, emotionally, or mentally. Us, as athletes, are constantly trying to perform in the classroom, on the court, and with our personal lives. The best advice I could give is: get some help from either a coach, or a therapist, like I did... and understand it won’t all just go away, but you are never alone. It will get always get better.”