Blog #2-6

Happy New Year!

I just finished reading The Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll which was such an exhilarating novel. The Basketball Diaries is based on a true story of how a young teenage boy growing up on the streets of New York City who is the star of his school basketball team becomes addicted to the drug known as heroin. Carroll attended the best private Catholic school in New York called The Trinity School. He was smart, talented, and sociable but as the story unfolds Carroll begins to lose focus on his goals in life. This leads him down to a dark path of self-destruction and careless acts causing him to lose the ones he loves most one by one. His addiction becomes to become to obsessive and it begins to take over his whole life. His friends would often participate with him as well leading to both Carroll and his friends dropping out of school. One day Carroll was left in the snow after an overdose and fortunately his neighbor helped him. It turned out the his neighbor had been through the same addiction as him years ago and couldn't bear to see him slowly repeat the path he went through. Carroll went through a painful withdrawal that ultimately saved his life. Today, the late Jim Carroll a legend and survivor is still recognized as an acclaimed poet,musician,and novelist.

As I read this wonderful memoir I learned to never give up on my dreams. Fortunately, Carroll had another special talent which was writing. After finally "getting caught" with heroin and spending time at the Rikers Island Jail, he published 3 volumes of poetry. Although, Carroll battled multiple challenges throughout his story, in the end he pursued his dream. He may not have been a star basketball player but he never gave up hope and continued to fight against himself. I wonder why did his mom not seek help for her child? Instead of kicking her son out, she could have seemed for more serious help. This surprised me because if I was a mom I would want to help my child and no matter what they did I would never be able to forgive myself if I just let them go. It's not easy giving up an addiction especially to a drug and making one decision about her son's safety could have changed his whole life. In addition, I also wonder what would happen if he switched schools? I completely understand that he got a scholarship to one of the top schools because of his amazing talent but is it worth being surrounding by his friends who are involved with him and his addiction. Being surrounding by positive people in your life will bring happiness  and help you learn and grow as a person.