Junior made the basketball team by battling his way through tryouts in order to impress the coach, with his determination to earn himself a spot on the team. Arnold says to himself, “I should have stayed down. But I didn’t”(Alexie 141). When Arnold is in a One-on-One with Roger, he finds himself in terror and is completely intimidated by Rogers figure, but has the push to keep on fighting. Earlier his dad had told him the story about how he had first met his mother. Arnold's dad states, “You have to dream big to get big” (Alexie 136). Arnold’s Father describes how he had the courage to let Arnold's mom help him get a drink of water when he was 5 and she was 13. Arnold's father did not feel intimidated by the age difference but instead believed in himself. At first Junior didn’t believe he had what it took to make the team. He knew it was a stretch saying that he could make varsity but ended up on varsity because of his mentality to keep going and not give up until tryouts were over. In the end, both Junior and his Father were dreaming big but both of their dreams had gotten them far. As there were acts of courage and determination in both of them.
I completely agree with your statement. Junior ended up getting on the team, not because he was the best or the strongest out of all of them, but because of his determination and perseverance. Even after Junior had lost a round and taken several elbows and other pain from Roger, Junior still wouldn't give up."He bumped me, Pushed me, and elbowed me, but I stayed with him."(141) In response, junior Realized there were no fouls in full-court one-on-one. He then used this to his advantage by running down the court wich would normally be a foul. This further proves my point that with perseverance and hard work always you can achieve anything you want.
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