By Varun Ram
Being a part of the Crossover Basketball and Scholars Academy this summer was an unbelievably rewarding experience. I was fortunate enough to work with an enthusiastic group of kids and a passionate Crossover team. One of the most important take-away lessons from my time in India was how big of an impact you can make on a kid’s life through the game of basketball. This realization inspires me to achieve more and to make an even greater impact in the future. My goal is to stay in touch with as many of the kids as I can and to return next year to see how much they’ve grown physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Students waiting for the start of Crossover
I hope the campers also had several take-aways from their experience with Crossover this year. However, there’s one lesson that I hope every kid who came to camp walked away with—the power of giving back. Shane and Kane, two kids who participated in last year’s camp, are prime examples of this. Grateful for the positive impact that Crossover made on their lives last year, they decided to join the Crossover team this year as volunteers and give back to their community. The world would benefit if there were more people like these two young men. My hope is that all of our campers can learn from them and give back to their community in some form as well. That could be anything from teaching their friends, who were unable to attend camp, the lessons they learned, to simply being a respectful and rule-abiding student at their school who leads by example. In one way or another, I want each and every one of our campers to lead a positive change. Change on the court. Change at home. Change in school. Whatever it may be, I hope they contribute to making the world a better place, one step at a time.