"Once the baseball incident happened, I almost quit playing sports all together." The basketball story of Eugene Campbell lll.
Every person on this planet experiences a level of adversity that comes in all shapes and sizes. It could be a severe injury that may sideline someone for years or, it could be a mental blockade that prevents someone from accomplishing their dream. Regardless, adversity is a real test given to humanity. It is the ultimate test of life that shapes and defines who we are.
Eugene Campbell faced many forms of adversity that shaped him into the successful man he is today. From accomplishing his dream of becoming a professional basketball player to launching his own brand, Campbell has worked hard to reach his status today. However, his success never came easy as he had to deal with many obstacles that almost prevented him from reaching his potential.
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Campbell started his life living in an environment where violence, drugs and crime was the norm. Growing up, his family was not the wealthiest, but they managed to provide him with the best life filled with enjoyment and valuable life lessons. While life at times was challenging for the Campbell's, they embodied the essence of family and supported each other. Despite Campbell being the youngest, he made sure to always be a supportive person in his family. While his relationship with his family was filled with support, they shared many similarities, including their love of basketball.
Campbell's start to his passion for basketball is rooted in his relationship with his father and older sister.
"My dad was a basketball fanatic and played at the high school level. My sister also played basketball but managed to reach the collegiate level and played very well. My mother was not a sports person, but she was a very supportive person towards my love for the game. I like the fact that my family was supportive about my basketball career from the very start," shared Campbell.
Despite sharing similar interests and being a supportive unit towards each other, life was challenging for Campbell as he was unable to truly settle down. Due to their financial and environmental situations, Campbell consistently moved from school to school. From elementary to high school, Campbell enrolled in six different schools, which was something that he struggled to adapt to. However, his parents were motivated to ensure that he was safe, healthy, and receiving the best education they could afford.
"I didn't have the most wealthy family growing up and was on the poorer side. Jersey City had its city part and its urban part where a lot of violence, drugs and crime happened. One of the reasons my family and I always moved was that my parents did not want me to grow up in that kind of environment as an adult. Many people my age would end up in jail or even dead, so they felt that moving was the better option for my future, which it was." revealed Campbell.
"It was uncomfortable because once I felt comfortable at a school, I had no choice but to move again. The stress of wondering where and if I will fit in among my peers was difficult to deal with. Kids just want to be kids, they want to be near their friend group, but I could never truly settle in," said Campbell.
Constantly moving from school to school is a challenge considering that most kids need time to feel comfortable around their environment. When it came to Campbell, he would move when he finally felt comfortable, which was hard for him to accept and adapt to. However, with his strong family connection and interest in sports, he was able to use both of those tools to help guide him to get to where he is today.
Playing sports helped Campbell feel comfortable as that was the only consistent aspect of his life he thought he was able to control. However, when Campbell started middle school, he developed a different perspective as the one constant thing in his life would later be unjustly stripped away from him.
Before starting middle school, Campbell was finishing his last few years of elementary school, where he experienced some of the best moments of his educational journey. He finally felt as though he had found an environment he was able to thrive in. Unfortunately, his family had to move to which Campbell was forced to enroll in a new school. While sports was still an emphasis at this school, the people around him felt indifferent about him.
"One of the reasons I constantly moved schools was that I experienced a little bit of racism from various teachers. The teachers were a little prejudiced; they didn't care about me or my colour. I was the only black student in my class, and I felt they were not too fond of it," Revealed Campbell.
Campbell often experienced various forms of racism, and most of the time, he was able to move on from it. However, before playing basketball, Campbell had a short tenure with baseball and became one of the best baseball players in his school. Despite the various occasions where he experienced unfortunate interactions with students and educators, playing baseball helped him manage his emotions. Unfortunately, some did not like the idea of Campbell being one of the best baseball players in the entire school and decided to take advantage of their power and control.
"Before I took basketball seriously, I was into baseball in the eighth grade and was pretty good at it. Unfortunately, one of my teachers did not like the idea that I was playing on the baseball team and told my parents that I was failing her class and wouldn't be able to play baseball. Come to find out, I was never failing my class and was kicked off the team anyways, even though I wasn't ever failing. This teacher never wanted me to play baseball and lied to my parents as I was never failing the class," revealed Campbell.
"When the Baseball incident happened, I stopped playing sports up until the end of middle school. It was hard for me to play any sport, knowing that I would always be cut just because of who I was. Once I went to high school, though, I started to get back into sports and focused more on basketball instead of baseball. I felt that I was one of the better players in my freshman year, but because my school was again not fond of me, I was cut from the team," said Campbell.
Towards the second half of Campbell's educational experience, he was stripped away from many opportunities due to ignorance and racism. Campbell was an elite type talent in every school he played, but unfortunately, some were blinded by his ability. According to Campbell, he was never a lazy person and was always on time with a positive attitude.
"I always had a good attitude who worked hard, was on time and on top of practice. I was never one of those rebellious kids that gave my peers a hard time. My past coaches and former teammates would say that I was a great player on and off the court, but unfortunately, situations prevented me from playing basketball or baseball at the level I knew I could do," said Campbell.
Despite all the adversity that Campbell experienced throughout his life, he managed to always find light when it was pitch black. When asked about what if he was able to confront the teacher who stopped him from playing baseball, Campbell revealed that he would share nothing but gratitude towards them.
"I would tell her thank you for taking me away from baseball because it motivated me to overcome the other obstacles in my life. Whatever bad happens in your life, you don't have to be sad or give up because life is filled with tests. You never have to give up; you just need to learn how to deal with it. That baseball situation happened for a reason; maybe baseball would have led me to a dead end. My teacher taking away baseball from me was an opportunity for me to realize that basketball was my calling. If that incident never happened, I would have never become a professional basketball player," shared Campbell.
The tests that Campbell had to face were tough to overcome. However, without those unfortunate experiences, he would have never fulfilled his goal of playing professional basketball. Due to him being around the right people who showered him with nothing but love, support and respect, Campbell was able to move ahead and prove those who doubted him or tried to stop him. His persistence and motivation towards life is an aspect that inspired me when writing about his basketball journey. The type of experiences that Campbell went through would have stopped most people, but for him, it was just another page that needed to be flipped in his life.
Today, Campbell is an accomplished professional athlete currently playing in Armenia. Outside of professional basketball, Campbell has managed to start charities and developed a brand called "dif_fer_nt." The lesson that can be learned from Campbell's basketball journey is that the adversity you face does not define you; it's how you react to the adversity and overcome it that does. Campbell's story is the essence of experiencing harsh adversity and never letting it define him. He could have given up, but instead, he used it as fuel to motivate himself to become the successful person he is today.