The clinking of my ball landing inside of the cup for my first par, the cheers of my father because of my chip-in, and winning my high school’s scramble tournament, the Tiger Cup, are all memories that I will hold dear to me throughout my adult life and for the rest of my golfing career. Whether it be the emotional lows of being blown out in a golf match by twenty strokes last year, or the emotional highs this year of achieving an undefeated season this year, my teammates and I have built an unbreakable bond that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. The work ethic, mental toughness, collaborative skills, and drive I currently possess were all taught to me through sports, starting with my journey in the eighth grade on Varsity Golf, and I will continue to hold these qualities close to me throughout my college experience and future career. Throughout the past few years, I have learned that the ebbs and flows that continue to impact me would have been impossible to navigate without the grit, creativity, and persistence developed from slicing my driver, shanking nearly every shot, and putting lip-out after lip-out in my early golfing career. During my undergraduate education, I yearn for an experience that not only provides an extraordinary environment for interdisciplinary research, but an environment that fosters creativity, discipline, and collaboration; in fact, those same qualities are necessary to complete a PhD, a future aspiration of mine. By utilizing the discipline and creativity taught to me through golf, I can make my dream a reality by designing precise experiments, writing detailed research papers, and being accepted into laboratories because of my skill set. The perseverance I learned from golf can also relate to my experience in the world of violin and music. Shaping shots in draws and fades correlates to my ever-growing sense of creativity and enhances my stage presence during concerts and recitals. I want to continue to grow the feeling of joy and excitement that radiates through me and the audience members who listen to me play, such as my family during Christmas Eve, strangers in the school auditorium, or my best friends listening to me practice; in fact, they inspire me to continue pushing forward to learn new, challenging pieces, each one more complicated than the last. The absence of an audience while playing in golf matches is an extremely different environment from a packed recital hall, but the focus I learned from golf, and the focus that is needed to perform well applies in both situations. Snapping bow hairs while laying down intense chords when playing impressive pieces on my violin has always been the definition of passion and fun for me. This fiery passion will continue to burn in me for the rest of my life, and I plan to light the wick of many others’ passions throughout college and beyond. Ultimately, golf has nurtured my individual growth and shown me that I can tackle any obstacle, challenge, or setback with grit, creativity, persistence, and eagerness.

To me, being taken out of a soccer game this fall because of a bit of foot pain should not cause a season-ending injury, but it did. A doctor telling me that a stress fracture was spreading into my foot, and I would not be able to return for the rest of the season was not on my bingo card for senior year. Even in my boot, I found ways to help the team: setting up cones for passing drills, collecting the balls after every practice, and rallying encouragement for my friends from the bench. However, it still felt that all of the time I spent practicing in the snow in January and sweltering weather in July and August was for nothing, until Coach Simone pulled me out of my own thoughts. I spent every minute of every practice standing next to him, and I discovered that he went through the same experience in college; he had a stress fracture in his shins, and was not able to play his senior season. After spending seven weeks glued to his side, Coach Simone taught me to speak with my mind and not my emotions, be passionate about what I love, even if I must do it from the bench, and to always find joy in everything, even when things become tough and unfavorable. What I thought would be my worst season on Varsity Boys Soccer, turned out to be the best. Coach Simone and Coach Sweeney even allowed me to do the kickoff at my last homecoming game, and that one moment made my entire season. I can not speak highly enough about my senior year soccer season, even though I was put out of commission for the majority of it. Without my brilliant coaches and teammates from Varsity Boys Soccer, I’m not sure what I would have done to overcome my injury. One moment from the season is hard to pinpoint, but I did have an extremely memorable season of making friends and being mentored by a special coach and teacher, and this season ended up being my favorite season at Tuckahoe High School. The work ethic, mental toughness, collaborative skills, and drive I currently possess were all taught to me by Coach Simone, starting with my journey in the ninth grade on Varsity Soccer and I will continue to hold these qualities close to me throughout my college experience and future career. The ebbs and flows that continue to impact me would have been impossible to navigate without the support from my coach, teacher, and mentor, Jason Simone.