[Taso]

Along with what everyone else said, I think you can combine a lot of those sentences. For example:


There was no option this time ; I needed surgery followed by six months of physical therapy twice a week. It was not till the fall of my junior year that I was 100%.

(Someone correct me if ^ is incorrect)

"Basketball had taken up all my time for so long , I didn’t realize how much I was missing."

That year off changed everything for me. I wrote for the school newspaper, and took up photography , and with each new activity came new friends.

Other than that,

"but it no longer was everything to me" can be better phrased "but it was no longer everything to me."

Also,

I tried out for the school ' s baseball team.