There are two words that are the key to a successful life and a career filled with continuous improvement and growth. Those two words are “Humble” and “Hungry.” Webster’s dictionary defines the word humble as “not arrogant or assertive; reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission.” YourDictionary.com defines the word hungry as “To maintain a strong motivation to achieve or compete; to avoid complacency.” Being hungry has nothing to do with your stomach growling for food. Being hungry has everything to do with feeding that desire that is burning deep down inside of you. You see, everyone has something that they are hungry for. Whether it’s to finish your undergraduate degree, making it out of the hood, or making the NBA we all have that hunger for more. Whether you achieve the goal of nourishing yourself of that specific hunger is up you but what you do after you achieve that goal is what shapes you as a person. Will you remain that same humble and hungry person or will you turn your head from the people and situation that helped you on your journey? So, when looking for an example of someone who is hungry and humble one should look no further than Bowie, Maryland’s own Quinn Cook.
NBA point guard, former D-League Rookie of the Year and former Duke Blue Devil Quinn Cook held his second annual Basketball Camp in Bowie, Maryland from August 11-13th. During this camp the campers had the opportunity to interact with current NBA players and camp counselors that included Jermaine Harris who is a top 100 recruit from Clinton, MD and attends Rock Creek Christian Academy. Cook had local legends and streetball legends Hugh “Baby Shaq” Jones and Patrick “Pat the Roc” Robinson on staff. To round out his talented staff Cook had NBA players such as Jarrett Jack, Utah Jazz’s Rodney Hood, Philadelphia 76er Jahlil Okafor and the Denver Nuggets and East Baltimore native Will Barton show up to surprise and interact with the kids. When watching the NBA as a child you begin to think of NBA players as people who are not regular human beings. They seem untouchable because of their profession but Quinn Cook destroyed that myth with his three day camp. Cook and his counselors could be seen interacting with the campers all around the gym. Some were seen putting up jump shots with the kids, some would be on another court going through drills and others would be off to the side conversing and joking around with the campers. It was a great site to see a group of men interacting with the next generation. Quinn Cook was not seen sitting down throughout the entire camp. He could be seen walking around the entire gym asking if everyone was okay. He could be seen shooting around and interacting with not only the campers but everyone that was in attendance and that included the media members and the families of the campers in attendance. Cook had local photographers/videographers Wilson K. Tarpeh Jr of “The Focus TV,” SamShoota “@SubtleWork,” Jordan “@JumpmanJordan” and Jeff Garvin of “JG2 Filmz” helping out so everything from the videographers to the counselors was community oriented. It was definitely a family like environment due to the fact that Cook had his mother, sisters and best friends helping out with the camp and interacting with everyone alongside him.
Quinn Cook wraps up the 2nd year of his camp
There are a lot of people who have the “hungry and humble” mentality, but they lack in the “humble” part of the phrase. Sometimes when you want something so bad, and you get it, your ego tends to inflate to the size of California. The goal is to want something so bad that you will fight to the death to get it. But, once you have it, you remain modest and down to earth about it. A lot of people tend to change once they achieve their ultimate goal. Whether that goal was securing an important job, receiving a music deal, or making it to the NBA there have been countless examples of people changing who they are because they have upped their status in society. But, how can you forget where you came from? How can you forget that you have children looking up to you? How can you forget that you were once one of those children looking up to NBA players and local superstars like they were superheroes? It only takes a few words or actions from a specific person to alter the path of a child’s life. Our children need more role models to look up to. Not only that but they need more role models who are doing positive things that do not deal with drugs, violence or rap music to uplift them. So when you think of the word Hungry and Humble you should think of Quinn Cook and his entire family and friends because they are prime examples of adults who never forgot where they came from. They are indeed the prime definition of what it means to be HUNGRY and HUMBLE. ” When speaking to the campers at the end of the camp Quinn Cook said “It starts within you, if you want to be a straight A student you can do it, if you want to be a lawyer, a doctor, an engineer or a rapper you can do it. But it doesn’t happen overnight. You have to put in the work, you have to follow instructions, you have to go to school and you have to graduate in order to reach your goals. For me I’m still trying to reach my ultimate goal. I made the NBA, I played in college but that is why I put HUMBLE and HUNGRY on the back of OUR T-Shirts. You always have to stay humble and it does not matter if you’re the best player or if you’re the best at what you do.” See you all next year at Quinn Cook’s third Annual Basketball Camp.
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