Alejandro Lares, 8th grade McCullough student makes a master comeback this 2024 basketball season. He once wasn’t on the team and now goes zero to hero making winning shots.

This is all done by the mindset and dedication he has and encourages others to have. Alejandro is the player the team can trust, and he states that “Teamwork, stamina, friendships, and determination is what holds this team together.” He believes that even if he knows he has something else to do he needs to dedicate his time to his team. This becomes a struggle when he has church on Wednesdays and Sundays as he still wants a relationship with God while he still has practice. Alejandro balances this by going to practice then going to church straight after.

As Alejandro tells me about his basketball year, he is asked what mindset he had this year compared to last year. Alejandro says “I believed in myself and had trust in myself as well as in God. I put all of my faith in him and stayed locked in.” Alejandro states that he knows he has improved greatly and believes it’s because of the dedication he has put into his team.  When he got asked what advice he would give someone to never stop trying, he said “I would tell them to never give up and put God first while believing in his plan. If you don’t make the team or don’t get something that you really want, know he has something better for you in the future.”

Alejandro wants others to know that if he never kept trying, he wouldn’t be where he is today, and that God made his path straight.