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  • East london voices

Ovie Soko

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"Sport has helped massively. I think there are certain lessons you can't learn in a classroom setting."

I believe in continuing to grow as people and education falls under that. Primarily everyone continuing to further what is true to them and continue to grow in whatever area that may be.

My role with education is a tricky one. Not going to lie, just being very honest. Having grown up there are certain aspects of education that are a must, that you need to function in society. Everyone does need that base. As we grow as people, there are no two people that are the same and the more I grew up and the older I got... the more I saw the necessity to find what is true to you. Not what is true to your parents or your teachers but what agreed with who you are. Find it and then dive into it.

Sport has helped me massively. I think there are certain lessons you can't learn in a classroom setting because in the classroom a lot of the time it is based around competition as an individual.

Probably the most valuable lesson I've learnt from sport is just how to navigate in life. How to deal with people. I've learnt so many people skills playing sport. I feel there are certain aspects of being on a team that you can transfer to life in general. Like in the workplace you have different characters and temperaments, and you can't get the same productivity out of everyone by speaking to them in the same way. You need to weigh up different things when trying to get different results. These are all things that come into play in sports. Sport has been a huge part of me becoming the man I am today. Other than allowing me to travel, experience the world and see different cultures - you learn a lot from different cultures and gain a more well-rounded perspective. Sport has been a beast.

Mental health is key. I have fought my battles along my journey. Part of my growth in that area has been my maturity but not only that. Knowledge is power, when you use it, and I have learnt the importance of the mind and how powerful it is. I pick up very quickly on how people think. Successful people tend to be very optimistic. Their outlook on every situation seems to be in the direction of solution-based thinking. So, I try to focus on the solution too.

Ovie Soko is a professional basketball player.

 Ovie Soko

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