In, 2, 3, 4. Hold, 2. Out, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Breathe. Madeleine “Maddie” Bideaux takes the court, subbing in as shooting guard, completely changing the course of the game. Her energy radiates as she runs into position preparing herself for the rest of the quarter. Leaving the bench, she simply breathes. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

This past week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Maddie, a senior here at Boro. Maddie is one of our star Varsity Basketball players, specifically point guard. Outside of being on the school team, she is involved with AAU Basketball. While she spends most of her time with her basketball teams, Maddie also participates in the National Honors Society. Being a friendly neighborhood Samaritan, she also coaches her young neighbors in basketball. Some of her other other enjoyable activities would include landscaping and washing cars.

With all of these activities, they all lead to different options in life. Bideaux stated that she would love to play basketball at a collegiate level. “After that, I might not play professionally, but we’ll see. Regardless, the sport of basketball will always have a place in my life no matter what.” Even with these basketball goals, her educational goals also provide insight into her diligence. Within school goals, she hopes to maintain a high grade average as well as truly learning from the course. She went into the idea that she would like to truly get something out of her classes and learn, rather than completing the assignments for a grade.

During the interview, Maddie revealed her interests with basketball and how she first became so passionate about the sport. As a child she played soccer, but soon became too aggressive when playing and scoring. At that time, she switched to basketball. She stated, “I could score in any position on the court and it was a lot more physical.” She also pointed out that in basketball, you can score in any position whereas in soccer, you’re stuck in one position throughout the game.

Throughout the discussion, I kept circling back in my mind to how much time basketball has taken up in her life. She acknowledged the time commitment during the interview and later stated how it almost drove her to quit. At one point, she let basketball be her life rather than letting it be a part of her life and let it take up 80% of her time. She told me that she took it way too seriously and it soon became more of a job rather than something she enjoys. However, the feeling was soon relieved once she took a step back and appreciated the little moments of her serotonin and happiness. “What kept me going is that I would have these small moments while shooting around or scrimmaging at a team practice, I would get a boost of serotonin that I felt when I had just begun the sport. The same serotonin that made me gain a huge passion for the sport.”

Following this, we then discussed those special people in her life who keep her going. She stated, “My sister, myself, my current & past pets, and my mother all inspire me the most.” She soon informed me of two coaches who significantly helped her. The first she named was Joe Ross who helped her with her shot and taught her how to be a more offensive-accurate player. The second one mentioned was Ben Badeen of which she said, “…he has helped me bring my ferociousness back to the game as well as changing my mindset to give 100% on and off the court.”

Coming to the end of the interview, I asked number 21 about any advice she would give to anyone, on and off the court. Her response was academically, to work on retaining what you learn rather than working to complete assignments. She also would like to encourage others to explore different topics that you might like and stated that just because it isn’t popular or you don’t know others taking that course doesn’t mean it should deter you from the class. Her final remark was a metaphor of basketball. “Imagine every shot like it’s your last, give the same energy as those “last two-minutes” no matter if it’s a workout, practice or game.”