One of the many things I love about Texas Wesleyan University is that people will frequently go out of their way to help you.

One person that has helped me tremendously along my journey here at school is Brennen Shingleton.

When I was a junior in high school, I came to one of Texas Wesleyan’s basketball camps and since then knew I wanted to be a part of this program and play for Coach Shingleton.

There were three lessons that he taught me in three entirely separate ways. I still think it’s remarkable how the things he taught us were things that directly reflected the game of basketball but were also life lessons.

“Nobody is going to give you anything in life. You have to earn it,” was the first. Now I know this may seem cliché, but it was something that stuck with me in the classroom and on the court.

The second lesson was that hard-work pays off. Coach Shingleton is the living example of how hard work pays off. From my freshman year, I have admired his work ethic and have tried to match that in things that I do.

The third lesson was not something that he specifically told me or showed me, but it is something that I believe he taught me. That lesson was how to be patient.

Patience is something that we must learn through experience.  After coming up short of our goals in the previous seasons, we came back and won two consecutive SAC Championships and a National Championship.

These memories will live forever, and it would not have been possible without Coach Shingleton and the lessons he has taught myself and others.