Though there will never be something as satisfying as finally getting into that streak of perfect driver shots instead of a horrendous banana slice, I think what's more important to me is that I'm just able to be out there to play. Being able to play golf in of itself is extremely valuable to me, as from an early age my doctor had told me that I would not be able to play any sports. This is because I unfortunately have a fragile sack of liquid in place of one of my kidneys that if damaged could rupture and kill me. I have many memories of my parents rushing to my side from just a simple visit to the park where I bumped into a kid on the side of my missing kidney. Needless to say, it meant playing almost every sport imaginable was out of the question for me. Golf was my chance to connect with other people my age that were athletically inclined, and it really was an outlet for me to just reflect. I feel like I have to be far more mindful about every last aspect about my game, and it's really nice to have that mentality when I'm out on a beautiful day. I feel like it gives me quality time to just connect with friends and myself. It's common knowledge that a stroke spent putting has the same value as a stroke expended hitting your driver. Similarly, I think golf really reminds me that you can't quit until a job is fully finished. I love the adrenaline rush of watching my ball soar through the sky after a successful drive, but I have to stay and read the green to make sure my efforts actually sink in. I really feel like as though I've taken the mentality from when I'm out there on the course and applied it to my everyday life. I've balanced many difficult AP classes with golf and additional clubs, and I'll end up in the middle of the night considering how easy it would be to simply just drop the classes and cut my losses. However, I never have and never will take the easy route. As much as I would love to claim that on the course if I'm simply on the green that it should be a gimme, I have to see the putt through. My academics are exactly the same, I have to see the class through to its end. I know that for as long as I am able I will continue to play golf, carrying my head high so that even when my game falters I will still be able to see it to completion.

I dedicate a lot of my time to miscellaneous clubs offered at my school. My teachers like to joke that I’m almost always in a room regardless of what club is being offered. This means I’m often out participating in community service events where I help cook meals at the homeless shelter, pick up trash on the street, or raise voter awareness. However, what I take the most pride in outside of golf and academics is my Mock Trial team. I’m its captain and this year we managed to operate and be an extremely competitive team despite losing 2 vital members and our coach himself. On top of that, through excess practice we managed to receive golden gavel recognition for the full team despite being a team full of almost all newcomers. Other than that I like to help my family in any free time I get, and though it isn’t as recognized as community service it’s very fulfilling to me to help my mom around the house. I’m currently planning to study Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT. Global warming has always been a large concern in my mind that doesn’t get nearly enough attention as it should. Not only would it in essence doom our planet, but in the time that it doesn’t it would make normal activities way less pleasant as going outdoors would be extremely hot. I would know a thing or two about heat as well, as I play golf during the summer in California. I believe that using nuclear power for energy purposes could not only greatly combat global warming within the US, but also aid developing countries elsewhere. If it wasn’t held with such intense stigma of being a weapon, countries would be able to use it instead of burning pollutive fossil fuels. I wouldn’t be the person I was if not for a great sense of support from clubs and sports within my school. I genuinely have so much to thank my golf coach for, but currently he’s retiring and the future of golf at my school is uncertain. Golf teaches students like me valuable lessons in patience and diligence in working towards a goal. Even if a lot of the lesson is to just keep swinging the club despite how bad a slice is. I would like to come back home after everything is said and done at college and offer a scholarship of my own to students who play golf. However, I’m not just going to wait until I’m out of college. One club that I hope to join is MIT Vote which specifically seeks to raise voter awareness from a nonpartisan angle. I have a lot of experience in this, as I accumulated roughly 90 hours with an organization called Rhizome where we organized stands on the street passing out fliers to guide people to their nearest polling location. I remember my first day at practice after receiving my acceptance to MIT. I was still beaming with pride at being accepted, but as I took in the subtle breeze and the soft grass underneath my shoe I realized that this would likely be one of the last times in a while that I would be able to golf. It would be unsustainable to keep golfing while MIT is such a financial burden on not only myself, but my family. To think that they would be working hard to support me while I’m off having fun golfing is entirely unfair. This scholarship would help me not only academically by paying off the hefty price of around 70,000 a year for MIT, but also help relieve the weight off my shoulders that I wouldn’t have to make my family feel obligated to support me. By getting this scholarship, it would help orient me better to actually be able to play golf with the MIT club in college as I wouldn’t be as big of a burden. Everyone goes through a slump. I’m no stranger to this idea, as I’d have to grimace as I watched my name drop from our team’s starting line up. I was designated our team’s captain, and with that I felt that I had a responsibility to uphold the team. So when a freshman joined the team and was shooting below 40 consistently, it was safe to say that I felt inadequate. Why was I made captain when I was struggling to get below 40? However, I remember one practice where we were both playing badly. It was a shocker, and slightly amusing watching as he couldn’t seem to understand how he was playing poorly. But it made me realize why I was captain. I took my teammate aside and told him that even if he couldn’t see it now he was still an exceptional player. That he should keep his head down, and keep driving through the ball instead of slamming his club and giving up. In a way, I was telling him everything I had wanted to hear. Golf never fails to teach me to keep striving forwards, and eventually I managed to escape my slump.