Hey, I’m Banks. I’m a student here at UGA studying finance, and I have a love for jiu-jitsu. Although I may not have the photos to show, jiu jitsu is something that I got into later in my teenage years. Growing up around a bunch of athletes between my uncles and dad, sports was a major part of our household. My dad played minor league baseball and two of my uncles were fighters. After playing baseball for most of my life, I eventually took the initiative to try jiu-jitsu like one of my uncles. I instantly fell l in love with it and have been training for the better part of 3 months now. Unlike baseball, which I do enjoy playing, jiu-jitsu offers so much more than just staying active. All of the people I have met seriously enjoy helping teach other people, even if it means slamming them down until they learn how to stop a move (trust me, its more fun than it sounds). Outside of the fitness aspect, jiu-jitsu offers a mindset that is unparalleled. It teaches how to respect others and yourself while also helping you bond with others in the process. On top of all of that it teaches you how to defend yourself which I think is a very important skill, but that could just be how I was raised lol. The hardest transition is staying with it, not getting better. It takes discipline to keep getting tossed around by people so you can get better, but 3 months in I can say that the first week might've been rough, but I'm all the better for it. So, if there's anything to takeaway from this short introduction, it would be to stick to things that might seem difficult at first because difficulty builds discipline and that's something that can help you on the mat and in the classroom.