The Alumni Life, Part 2
“Even though he wasn’t the Captain of the Basketball Team, he still showed leadership in his individual development. He kept his teammates on track and focused in class, and he knew when he had to be loud when communicating on the court. On and off the court, Ryan held his teammates and himself accountable for their actions and mistakes.”
Although high school life may be a hard journey, it sets students up for college – that next step that not all are allowed to take. Students that their next steps are college, student-athletes hope to play for their collegiate athletics. When your dreams and goals are aligned to play collegiate level sports then you're willing to do whatever it takes to achieve it. The dedication, struggles and challenges student-athletes have faced is world wide. Not all dreams and goals come true to play at the collegiate level. Only 7% of high school athletes in the country that get the chance to play collegiate sports.
Everyone has their own paths to meet their goals. In that spirit, I would like to introduce an alum from Comp Sci High who has created his own path to continue pursuing his goals: Ryan Fuentes.
Ryan was a part of the 2023 graduating class from Comp Sci High. He started as a Python and ended as a Python. When he entered Comp Sci High as a freshman, he didn’t know much about how his high school experience would go, what he wanted to do after high school, and even what job he wanted. All he knew was that during his years in high school, he wanted to play high school basketball. Knowing that this was his passion and his most desired interest, he was committed to play for Comp Sci High every year, wanting to grow and get better as a player.
During his time at Comp Sci High, Ryan found new opportunities and interest. The goal was always to play college basketball and he reminded himself of that during every hard time he was struggling through. Ryan was involved in internships and many school opportunities to provide support if needed. Pushing through the challenges he faced, he knew at the end of the day that communication and discipline were the two values he had developed at Comp Sci High. By committing to and agreeing with the Student Athlete Contract, he learned how to center his values and really develop his character. He agreed to keep grades up, to communicate, to show leadership, and to always be timely.
When agreeing to Comp Sci High Student Athlete Contract, there are many elements involved. One element is that in order to play you have to be passing all of your classes. This helped build Ryan’s discipline when knowing he had to make decisions to keep him on track in order to keep playing basketball.
Another important element is communication. Communication was the reason for Ryan’s success in school and on the court. Reaching out to teachers for extensions when knowing he had personal problems going on in his life, or reaching out to coaches if he couldn’t make it to practice or games. Even though he wasn’t the Captain of the Basketball Team, he still showed leadership in his individual development. He kept his teammates on track and focused in class, and he knew when he had to be loud when communicating on the court. On and off the court, Ryan held his teammates and himself accountable for their actions and mistakes.
These are all values that Ryan developed when committing to the Comp Sci High basketball team.
So, where is Ryan now? Due to Ryan’s consistency throughout high school on and off the court, he is attending East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania. Ryan has chosen to take on the next challenge after high school. Since Ryan didn’t come from a well-known high school basketball program, a lot of high level colleges didn’t get the chance to watch him play and perform on the court.
As everyone has their own paths, Ryan has still found his own way. Going to a high Division II basketball university showcased his decision to work towards playing at the collegiate level. He is not on the ESU Basketball Team, but he is not giving up on participating in college-level basketball. He knew it was going to be tough, but he knew not to give up. As he continues to communicate and develop more discipline as he grows older, Ryan is doing whatever it takes to get on this team. Though he is not on the team, he is still working on his connections with the coach and participating in team practices to hopefully get the chance to play for his university. Comp Sci High has been a huge help getting Ryan to understand the real world. He is now taking what he has learned and developed as an individual into the college level, for both academics and sports.