Football has been a huge part of my life since the age of 4 years old. I played all sports, baseball, soccer, basketball, track and even took a summer ballet class to help with my football footwork. Even through all the sports, football stayed at the top of my list of focus. When I entered high school, it seemed that every football season, I ended up hurt and would have to sit until I was cleared by a doctor. That's when I knew sports medicine would be a great start to what my career goal would be. Growing up my mom worked 3 jobs, not because we were poor or anything but to make sure that my sister and I had everything we wanted first, then everything that we needed. I remember telling my mom that she wouldn't have to pay for college because I was going to get a scholarship to play football. We moved to a fairly wealthy city, where we were part of the minority, and here is where I felt that playing a sport and being good at the sport will surely take us far in this community. I became a known name around the city after playing on the varsity football team my 10th grade year, but something just didn't seem right. I had no coaches asking about me, no offers and my mom had taken me to plenty of college visits. I started to doubt myself and my skills. May college athlete won't be added to my resume in the future. Well on Feb. 5, 2025, my senior year of high school, I signed with the Tiffin Dragons football team and instantly thought, "We made it mama!" I was excited and overjoyed for this accomplishment that I had under my belt. I was an average student, but one thing I knew was that I was a great football player. Once the scholarship offer came in, depression hit immediately. I was honored to be 1 of 2 teammates to receive an offer to play at the colligate level, but how was I going to afford the rest of the tuition payments? My father was no help, so I had to rely on the same person that I specifically told wouldn't have to pay for college, my mom. I do not think my mom has ever held down no more than 3 jobs, (one career and two part-time) since my birth, and I thought how could I do this to her and my family. Knowing my mother, she was not going to let any amount of money stop me from pursuing what has been a dream for so long. She has pushed me and tolerated me for so long. If I could take just some of the pressure off of her, I'd do it in a heartbeat. This scholarship money will not only help further my education, but it would allow me to give my mom back just a fraction of what she has given me and that's a chance to not live paycheck to paycheck.

Football has been a huge part of my life since the age of 4 years old. I played all sports, baseball, soccer, basketball, track and even took a summer ballet class to help with my football footwork. Even through all the sports, football stayed at the top of my list of focus. When I entered high school, it seemed that every football season, I ended up hurt and would have to sit until I was cleared by a doctor. That's when I knew sports medicine would be a great start to what my career goal would be. Growing up my mom worked 3 jobs, not because we were poor or anything but to make sure that my sister and I had everything we wanted first, then everything that we needed. I remember telling my mom that she wouldn't have to pay for college because I was going to get a scholarship to play football. Well on Feb. 5, 2025, I signed with the Tiffin Dragons football team and instantly thought, "We made it mama!" I was excited and overjoyed for this accomplishment that I had under my belt. I was an average student, but one thing I knew was that I was a great football player. Once the scholarship offer came in, depression hit immediately. I was honored to be 1 of 2 teammates to receive an offer to play at the colligate level, but how was I going to afford the rest of the tuition payments? My father was no help, so I had to rely on the same person that I specifically told wouldn't have to pay for college, my mom. I do not think my mom has ever held down no more than 3 jobs, (one career and two part-time) since my birth, and I thought how could I do this to her and my family. Knowing my mother, she was not going to let any amount of money stop me from pursuing what has been a dream for so long. She has pushed me and tolerated me for so long. If I could take just some of the pressure off of her, I'd do it in a heartbeat. This scholarship money will not only help further my education, but it would allow me to give my mom back just a fraction of what she has given me and that's a chance to not live paycheck to paycheck.

Growing up, I never was an angry kid or one to get into fights in school. My mood swings really didn't hit me until my sophomore year in high school. I was angry at the world and didn't know why. It wasn't until my mom suggested that I talk to someone about certain issues that I was having since talking to her about my problems was not on my list of things to do. I'm tough, I thought, I can handle anything that comes my way. My mom suggested a therapist, one who was a young African American male and who also played football in high school in the same position that I played. I decided to give it a shot because I started not to recognize myself anymore. Throughout our frequent sessions over the years, I learned that it was something deeper than what I saw on the outside, and I was taught how to take a closer look at what the underlining problem was; it was me! I was fed up with no going further in my football career that I was taking it out on everyone else. I watched high school kids get recruited for their sport when I was still working my tail off every Friday night with not one recruiting coach approaching me. I began to feel the pressure of not being able to get into a good college or just being high school good and not college athlete worthy. This pressure was real for me and everyone around me felt the wrath of it. During these sessions, I learned that I needed to allow my skill set to show for itself and that was all that I could do besides sending film to recruiting coaches, which I had done. I learned that the world doesn't just move when I need it to move. There were just some things out of my control I guess, I wasn't that tough, and there were just some things that I couldn't handle on my own. If I'm honest, these sessions were helpful because it was coming from someone like me who has been in the same position and I felt that he could relate. Having someone to talk to was one of the best decisions that I've made because it taught me that there is a time and a place for me, wherever that may be. My time was coming, but patience and resilience were something that I needed to conquer before it arrived. I noticed I was slow to anger and more helpful to my other teammates because I was more focused on conquering my fears of not being a college athlete. I waited patiently and was able to allow my skill set to land me a spot at Tiffin University to be a part of their football team. If I wouldn't have received the help when I truly needed it, I could have blocked my blessings.

"Mr. Football Sean R." were the words printed on my jacket and my football bag that my mom purchased for me. She knew how much football meant to me since the age of 4 when I started playing. I was born with two small heart murmurs and after receiving a second opinion from doctors it was said that surgery was not needed. I would see my pediatric cardiologist every year for monitoring and further in my teen years I was told that we could move the monitoring to every other year. In the beginning, my mother was against tackle football because of my heart condition and her motherly instincts, let her tell it, was to put me into a sport with less contact. I truly believe to this day that she played back what my pediatrician told her during my regular checkups from birth. My doctor told my mom that from looking at my hands and feet that I was going to be a football player, needless to say she took a gamble and allowed me to play. I excelled in the sport earning all types of awards and honorable mentions thorough high school. I was the chubby offensive and defensive lineman who played with my class but would also move up to play at the next level which was JV as a freshman and varsity as a sophomore. I looked up to the older guys on the team because they pushed me to not only become a better player, but a better teammate as well. Summer of my junior year, my body had changed. I got slimmer and stronger and by senior year I was no longer the chubby lineman, but now the tight-end Senior Captain. I had not only made the physical transformation, but a mental transformation as well. I always knew that I wanted to play football at the next level and I was willing to put in the work to do so. From freshman up until the end of my junior year, our football seasons and program was falling apart, but the determination for me and my teammates would not allow that to be our legacy we left at our school. I would send group chats to the team to hold different on-field workouts, weight room time and swim workouts and opened it up to any player to come and join. I took football seriously and I wanted my teammates and the rest of the seniors to join me in gathering our team to put in the work on and off the field. Due to the fact that I started this wave of a "new season new team," that it was necessary that I lead by example. I read my playbook and knew it like the back of my hand, I held one on ones with under classmen that were looking to accomplish the same goal after we, the seniors, left, and became a mentor for them. There is no better feeling than leaving the kind of legacy where people see you as not only a leader, teammate or captain of a team, but the legacy that yo actually cared enough to build up the program of those coming up after you leave. The future plan would be for me to return after graduation and work my way up the coaching ladder in the same city it all started from.

"Unfortunately, we are suspending you for 10-days which mean senior project, prom and walking across the stage are off the table." These are the words I heard back in April 2025 a month out from graduation. I was being suspended from school over a misunderstanding with another student whose mother just so happened to be a huge part of our schools PTA. Needless to say, I was not happy and neither was my mother. There were so many questions that were went through my head at that time and I can honestly say that this took a toll on me mentally. Everything that I have worked so hard for would be taken away from me with the word from another student who's family was well connected. I immediately was upset but I definitely was not surprised. I had been having trouble with one of my Assistance Principals since I was a freshman. Any and everything I did was deemed as me being a difficult young man. My mother would also ways tell me that living in this city you have to be aware of having a target on your back, but I'm an athlete so I doubt that applied to me, boy was I wrong. It seemed to me that if I got out of my seat to throw something away, turned the corner to my class just as the bell run or spent too many days being sick, she was trying to suspend me. It wasn't until this past April that my mother and I said, "enough is enough." My mother worked three jobs to get us by since I could remember and there was no way I was going to allow her or my family see me not walk across that stage come May. Football has always been my passion since the age of 4 and I had just committed to playing for Tiffin University a few months back. My mother decided to appeal the suspension, which gave us a chance to speak with the Assistant Principal, the Principal and the Superintendent of the district. I spoke my truth on how I felt targeted and denied the allegations that brought us to this point. My mother also backed me up and brought up the fact that this particular family sits on the PTA and Boosters for the school, plus the evidence from other witnesses were all over the place. After a few days on pins and needles we received the phone call from the district that the suspension had been lifted with prom, senior project and graduation back on the table. I had 12 days to get through with no incidents, minor or major, and those were the longest 12 days of my life. I decided not to go to prom because I knew my mother would struggle paying for college and I did not want to add prom on top of that. I did my 12 day sentence, I was on time for class, turned in all work and did not utter a word to anyone. Then on the seniors last day, my Principal called my mother and said, "Tia he made it! Every day he would see me and count down his days and today he hugged me and said he did it" My mother cried and thanked her for the phone call. I graduated and walked across the stage May 22, 2025 with the rest of my class and that has been the biggest achievement thus far. Stay tuned because college graduation 2029 will be the next accomplishment.

High school for a lot of kids can be challenging in itself with the little worries of making and meeting new friends, finding classes and comparing lunch periods with old friends. For me, all of that was easy. I've always been an outgoing person with a welcoming personality. However, I had to overcome a whole new challenge during my senior year. I heard they call it "senioritis" but for me this senioritis began my sophomore year. I was so intertwined with playing football and hanging with my friends that I had forgotten the whole reason why I was in school in the first place. Not because it was mandated by law, but I had plans on graduating high school and playing football in college. Well, little did I know, it would take more than my football skills to get me into college. I began applying to different colleges and received a few denial letters which hurt me to my soul and I just could not understand why or what was happening. It did not take long for me to see that I probably needed to focus more on my academics than anything else. My senior year came faster than expected and the real world seemed to just be waiting on me to join in. "If you don't buckle down Sean you will not be able to walk the stage with the rest of your class," were words I was not expecting to hear. So at this point I had already been accepted to some colleges and I narrowed them down and picked the right one for me at Tiffin University. I even committed to playing for their football as well. My grades were average, enough to get accepted into college, but I struggled mentally going through my senior year. It seemed that I was always in the Assistant Principal's office for behavior issues. Issues that seemed so small to me but were obviously made into a bigger problem when I voiced my opinion on the favoritism and fairness of certain situations and conditions. After hearing that I may not walk with my class because of a suspension during the last quarter, I was crushed. I eventually would appeal the suspension, win the case and walk the stage with the rest of the 2025 graduates, but to be in that situation was definitely scary and uneasy for me. I actually had a lot of adults in my school that had counted me out and thought there was no hope for little ole me, but my mom kept me motivated and sought out help for me to work through my mental and emotional setbacks. I am excited for the next chapter of my life because I have already proven that I can accomplish anything with hard work, but now I know that the hard work need start as soon as my feet hit the campus. I want to be the example for my little sister and brother who watches my every move. Going off to college is where the real work starts and a new life begins. No one knows me or my past and I am able to start fresh with a clean slate and show myself that I was made for this. I am able to be that voice for kids younger than me, who think that there's no hope, to tell them to hold on because better days are coming. I could have given up and just collected my diploma after graduation, but I had something to prove. Not only to some of the teachers of my high school but to myself. I plan to make the most of this second chance by taking my studies serious in college from the start, there will be no time for seniorities ever again. The long term goal would eventually be to open up my own sports rehab clinic in the city that watched me play every Friday night during the football season and just being the person I was made to be. My mother never lost hope for me and I plan to pass that on to anyone who feels or has been told their challenges are bigger than their future.

Nothing puts more pressure on a high school student than figuring out what your plan is for after high school. Well lets up that pressure a notch, how about having a mother that graduated from Penn State University, a big 10 school, yikes! Since I can remember I have been surrounded by Penn State memorabilia, football games and stories of her college days. Not to mention the friendly rivalry between her and my grandfather who had spent a year at Ohio State. There was this one time when I was 5, that my grandfather placed me in his Ohio State room with a pen and piece of paper and made a video of me signing my football commitment to play at Ohio State. We actually still pass this video around till this day and laugh about it. My senior rolls around and my mother told me that all I needed to worry about was getting into a school that was right for me and walking across the stage in May of 2025 and she would figure out the rest. My mother has always worked a full time job and at least 2 part time jobs to support my younger sister and I over the years and although she seemed fine with all the working, I could tell that it was and have been weighing heavily on her. I was not the strongest in school academically which actually hurt me in the long run applying for scholarships and possibly getting into some schools, but I found the one that fit me and my needs. No, it's not a big 10 like my grandfather and my mother attended, but it's more of a smaller setting with a focus on you getting everything you possibly need there to be successful. I picked to attend Tiffin University in Tiffin Ohio and I have committed to play football while there. I also plan to work closely with the athletic trainer so that I can gain all of the knowledge of athletes who may need strengthening and rehabilitation services. I want to own my very own facility where athletes can come for rehab purposes, get nutrition facts and workout with one of our trained professionals in their specific sport. Helping my mother ease her mind of having to pay for college would be a great deal for me. My mother has been my biggest supporter financially, mentally, physically and emotionally, this would be the perfect way to say, "Thank you for everything that you have done, now it's my turn." I actually could have worked harder at my academics which would have made the scholarship journey easier, but the only thing I can do about that now is pursue my education at Tiffin and academically make up for that lost time during my high school years.

"If you don't buckle down I promise you will not walk that stage come May!" This is a sentence that no one wants to hear their senior year of high school. Unfortunately, I've heard it more than once. It's sad to say the 'restart/refresh' button did not work for me in a lot of cases throughout my high school career but I knew there was a target on back and I possibly had placed it there. Since my freshman year of high school, I had some trouble with being suspended, not from fighting or any real life threatening issues, but from playing around too much or having a disagreement with a teacher. It just seemed that for every, which I would consider, little thing, I was being disciplined. It was to the point that even my mother was tired of getting the ridiculous phone calls and that is when she stood up and took charge. There was something not right and it seemed that I was being picked on and picked out by the same person each and every time, which my mom considered a pattern. She then decided it was time to go to the board and have a "real conversation." It wasn't until this conversation happened that we started to see a change in how things were. There was definitely a target on back and the superintendent stated that while in his office and without me knowing the proper channels to go through in order to remove said target it would always be an issue. Well needless to say I did in fact walk the stage May 22 with the rest of my class and it felt amazing to prove to the doubters that I could make this change and maneuver around without having any issues. I plan to actually come back to my high school our other high schools in my area to encourage those students having behavior issues or any other issues that you can actually overcome what the 'nay-sayers' said you couldn't. To many kids when you tell put in their mind that they can not or will not be able to do something, most will just give up instead of working harder and going that extra mile to prove them wrong. I took it upon myself, to buckle down and do what was necessary. Of course I wanted to graduate, walk with the rest of my class and head off to college, but I also wanted to show everyone that counting me out should not have been on the agenda for the 24-25 school year. I plan to keep striving while at Tiffin University and to make it my business to never allow anyone to tell me that I just simply can not do something, I also plan to either make it happen or get as close as possible to making it happen. Failure is not an option for me and after my college graduation in 2029 I will have my own sports rehab and skills facility, where I plan to hold nutrition seminars, rehab athletes in order to help them get back to the sport they love all while holding workout classes for rehabbing the correct way.

One of my biggest dreams in life, besides making my mother proud, would be to accomplish exactly what I said I would. I have been a football player since the age of 4 and since then football has been life for me. I began getting some playing time in JV games my freshman year, then some playing time on Varsity my sophomore year as well. Throughout high school, just about every football season, I would have some sort of injury. Nothing too major but eventually I would have to put in some time with the football trainer. It wasn't until my junior year during one of our games that my best friend got hurt and would have to be out for the rest of the season and half of our next season. This is when I knew exactly what I wanted to do as far as a career field. I would attend every rehab and doctors appointment with him learning and encouraging him along the way. It was a very long process for him and he would get emotional and depression would sometimes sink in that he would not be able to start our senior year playing besides me. Helping him through this very tough time in his life would lead me to knowing what I wanted to eventually do with the rest of mine. Helping others get back healthy to continue doing what they loved to do. Sports medicine or sports therapy was the career that I needed to head towards. "But why stop there," I thought, lets own our own facility where you can not only help those through rehabilitation, but use the facility for sports training, skills, conditioning and nutrition classes as well. In order to achieve this dream, I plan to work closely with the sports trainers at Tiffin University to gain every bit of knowledge that I can along with reaching out to business owners of facilities to pick their brain about the next steps. For the most part all I know is that once you pick up a sport that you eat, sleep and breathe, all you can think about is what's next for you and that sport after high school or after college. After seeing my friend almost give up his dream of playing football from his injury, it made me take on another role in his life. Not just being a best friend, but I became another trainer for him, a therapist to keep his spirits high and helped him through his rehab workouts at home. If you are knowledgeable and passionate in an area, I believe it should be shared and what a way to share that by building your own and helping those get back to what sport they love.