For as long as I can remember, swimming has been part of my life. I've been a competitive swimmer for fourteen years, and the pool has taught me more than just how to race. It has taught me discipline, resilience, humility, and how to keep showing up even when things don't go the way I planned. However, the moment that shaped me the most as an athlete wasn't one of my biggest wins. It was one of my biggest mistakes. During my junior year of high school, I disqualified Carmel High School's 200 freestyle relay by jumping into the water before the race was completely over. It wasn't intentional, and it happened because my coach had never explained that specific relay exchange rule. He immediately took responsibility and told everyone it was his fault, not mine, but I still felt like I had let my teammates down. Anyone who knows Carmel swimming knows the expectations that come with wearing that cap. We were fighting to continue a tradition of excellence, and I felt like I had cost my team something important. For a while, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I replayed that relay over and over in my head, wondering what I could have done differently. Eventually, I realized I had two choices: let that moment define me or use it to become better. I chose the second. I went back to practice with a different mindset. I couldn't change what had happened, but I could control how I responded. A few weeks later, I came back at the Indiana State Championships and won the B Final. That race meant more to me than almost any other because it reminded me that one mistake doesn't define an athlete. What defines an athlete is how they respond afterward. I still carry that lesson with me today. Now I'm a sophomore at DePauw University, where I compete on the swim team while studying Biochemistry and Global Health on the pre-med track. Since coming to DePauw, I've become a Mid-season champion, earned All-Conference honors, and broken multiple school records. Those accomplishments mean a lot, but they aren't what motivate me. I want to keep pushing myself because I know I'm capable of more. My goal has always been bigger than swimming fast. I want to become a physician, and I also want to continue competing for as long as I can. I don't believe athletes should have to choose between building a career and continuing the sport they've dedicated their lives to. That's one of the biggest problems with swimming today. Our sport asks so much from its athletes. We wake up before sunrise, spend hours training every day, and give up weekends, summers, and holidays because we love what we do. But for most swimmers, once college is over, so are the opportunities. Unless you're one of the few Olympic stars with sponsorships, there's not much of a professional path. I don't think that's how it should be. Swimming deserves a future where athletes can continue competing after college, earn recognition for their hard work, and build careers around the sport they've spent years developing. Fans should know the athletes behind the goggles. Meets should be exciting, easy to follow, and something people actually want to watch. There are so many incredible swimmers whose stories never get told simply because the current system doesn't create space for them. That's why I believe Speed League Swimming is so important. It gives swimmers something to work toward beyond college and creates opportunities that our sport has been missing for years. A professional league wouldn't just help elite athletes continue racing, it would help grow the sport itself by making swimming more visible, more entertaining, and more sustainable. I want to be part of that. Not just because I love competing, but because I love representing everything this sport has given me. I teach swim lessons, mentor younger swimmers, and try to be someone they can look up to. As the daughter of Liberian immigrants, I've always understood that the opportunities I have today came from the sacrifices my parents made long before I ever stepped onto a pool deck. Their work ethic inspires mine every single day. I want young swimmers to see that success isn't about never making mistakes. It's about getting back up after you do. Financially, scholarships have played a huge role in making my education possible. While I've been fortunate to receive scholarships from DePauw and other organizations, college is still expensive, especially while balancing the demands of being a collegiate athlete. Receiving this scholarship would help relieve some of that financial pressure and allow me to continue pursuing both my education and my athletic goals. I believe Speed League Swimming is looking for athletes who love the sport enough to help change it. Athletes who have faced setbacks, kept going anyway, and want future generations to have more opportunities than they did. That's the kind of athlete I strive to be. My story isn't perfect, and that's exactly why I think it matters. I've experienced failure, learned from it, and come back stronger because of it. If Speed League Swimming is about building the future of our sport, then I want to help build it—not just by racing, but by showing the next generation what's possible.