This tournament was very challenging as all of our opponents were schools from either Vietnam or Cambodia with teams we have never played against before. Thus, the team was not familiar with their coach, players, or tactics like we would be with an opponent from a school in Bangkok. The team worked well together despite having to include younger, non-varsity players since we were short on juniors and seniors who were able to go. It was difficult for me as the usual point guard/shooting guard because most of the younger players also had the same positions as me (usually these positions are for shorter people), thus I had to learn to be more flexible with my positions and also communicate with the new players. The first game was definitely not the best as the team started to adjust. Most of the new players were not as accustomed or familiar with our plays as the varsity players were, so it was frustrating at times. However, as we played our second game, the team became more unified as communication improved and mistakes from the previous game were pointed out. Unfortunately, during the second game I injured my arm and the sole of one side of my basketball shoes came loose. I ended up having bandages wrapped around my injured arm and tape wrapped around my shoe. I was back in the game promptly after getting fixed up and remained optimistic. With a close final game, the team went home with a silver runner-up trophy as we were unable to defeat the host team. First place or not, this tournament allowed me to really understand what it means to be a part of a team, to play together, and put the team first. All in all, it was a good experience that allowed me to become more patient while playing sports, welcome new players, and improve my verbal and non-verbal communication skills. The trip was very enjoyable as we also got to explore Vietnam's night markets and food scene as a team.

Tournament: Chiangmai, February 1-3, 2018

This tournament was perhaps one of the most challenging tournaments in my basketball career. The reason why it was challenging was because the teams in this tournament were the most formidable from their respective countries. There were the best teams from Thailand - both from Bangkok and Chiangmai - as well as extremely strong teams from China, Taiwan, and Japan. One of the reasons why it was especially challenging for me was because for this tournament, the coach had given me the responsibility of being point guard even though I was more comfortable with being a shooting guard. For most of my basketball experience, I have been either the shooting guard or the point guard due to my height and dribbling/ball control abilities. However, I usually prefer to be the shooting guard as one of my greatest weaknesses in Basketball is that I often become stuck. This happens when an opponent or multiple opponents try to prevent me from entering within the free throw area and I simply become stuck or unable to navigate around or between them and ultimately stop instead of finding a way to penetrate. For this reason, I had attempted to persuade our coach to let me continue being the shooting guard, however, she insisted that I remain point guard for this tournament. I was anxious as I was well aware of my habit of being "stuck," and was prepared to disappoint and embarrass myself. For the first two games, I became stuck frequently. However, as the tournament went on, I managed to navigate around or between players as I became faster on my feet and started to feel more energized during games. This did not improve our team's status though, as we had lost all of our games up until our last. Our last game was fun but exhausting. This game was no doubt the game in which I had scored the highest number of points in my career. I was point guard throughout the game and was finally confident and more masterful. The score was scarily close throughout the entire game, but our team ultimately lost by one last minute shot from the opponent. Despite being at the bottom in this tournament and losing ALL of our games, in the end, I finally understood why our coach forced me to remain as point guard. This tournament taught me that consistency is essential to achieving perfection and that the result of hard work and practice will speak for itself.