Guntapong Korsah-Dick '17 Recruiting Profile

School and I were never really the best of friends since the days of Elementary and Middle school. My childhood was just an absolute blessing. My parents are just beyond supportive, my younger sister who means the world to me, and great friends who never got me into any trouble I was not supposed to be in. I had a great childhood. The only thing that was not so great about my childhood was my habits of being uncontrollably stubborn in school. I never really bought into the whole “school” system in elementary and I had a big problem of not being able to keep that to myself so I would always make sure that someone should feel the same way either by disturbing the class, or just act up when the teacher wanted to tell me to do something. Looking back I’m not surprised why they called me “El Diablo”.

My life started to see a change in direction when I started joining my school’s sports teams in middle school. I joined the under 13’s volleyball team, with very little to no volleyball skill at all. I only joined it because I wanted to have fun with my friends. However, It was stressful at first considering I could not bump, or set the ball even if my life depended on it, but I was quite adept at spiking the ball due to my athleticism. Although I felt okay with just being able to spike, my coach saw this potential in me and really pushed me to become more skilled in other areas of the game as well. So I started setting goals for myself. Started practicing by myself with bumping and setting. Slowly, I started getting better and before the season started I already knew that I was ready. I was one of the most impactful players on the team and with that said led my team to an undefeated season along with the championship. Volleyball wasn’t the only sport I had passion for. Basketball was also a sport I grew to liking and slowly fell in love with. The countless hours in the gym, the heartaches of losing games, and the feeling of victory after winning in a championship game, my passion for the sport isn’t going to stop growing anytime soon. Playing Varsity basketball my first year was the one of the hardest times of my life. My team had a great starting five and four other bench players who could really play. I could not shoot, could not pass really well, and surely could not dribble the ball. All I could do was dunk and get rebounds. It was tough knowing that I could be so much better, but I am not putting in the time. So I started setting goals for myself. My goals were to become a better ball handler, better shooter, and a better leader. So for months, day by day, I would work in the gym either by myself or with my dad who has helped me become the player I am today. Of course I would get frustrated during practices but I never quit. Three years ago, it would have taken me 2 hours to make 200 shots, today I am only taking less than 30 minutes to do so, but that's only because I never quit, I always kept going because I had this feeling it would eventually pay off one day. After all the work that first year, my second year came and I was ready to lead my Varsity team.That season we won our regionals championship since it was a goal of ours to do so. I knew that I was ready to better myself even further not only on the court but also in school.

That wasn’t an easy process of course. It took me years to finally get it.To finally understand that the mind is so powerful and that it can beat laziness anytime. I set out a goal of reaching a 3.0 back in the sixth grade, but it was only five years later that I received a 3.2 gpa. I had to work harder than I’ve ever worked in my life, but I set that goal and I achieved it.