Career Choice Scholarship

I consider that through furthering my education at Tarleton State University I will be reaching my primary goal of becoming an athletic trainer at the secondary education level, what is more, I will also gain an extensive understanding of the field as a whole. This graduate program will allow me to reach my true potential academically as well as professionally. It will enhance my critical thinking skills in the classroom setting while working as a team and independently as an individual; likewise it will challenge me as I enter into the clinical environment and begin to work directly with the athletes. Tarleton State will equip me with the knowledge I need to succeed in all areas of my career.

When I first joined cross country I was not fast nor a runner. I was one of the slowest people on the team, but I wanted to get faster and I was determined to improve. Some days we would do a hills workout and I would get to the top of the longest hill and think, “I could just run back to Armstrong right now and be done”. But then, I thought about how if I did another hill, I would get better and some time during a race when there was a big hill I would look at it like it’s nothing. I could go up the hill easily and pass a couple girls. So I would do another hill. Then the next time we did hills I rememberd how many I did the last time and pushed myself to do one more. Through that cross country showed me that I could be faster and tougher than I thought I was if I put in the effort and want it

My senior year of high school I began training athletes of all ages during the offseason. My passion for educating as well as athletics provided me with an excellent platform to help other athletes improve. While training I was able to help adolescents achieve their athletic goals, improve their skillset, and was also able to help mentor them through many life situations. Throughout my time as a trainer I was able to develop many relationships with players, coaches, and athletic directors. During this time as a trainer I was able to more thoroughly understand different learning styles and how to adapt to each. Communication was also a skill that improved during this experience through the scheduling and specific needs of each

In all my life, I’ve never had a commitment that required so much of me as track and field, both physically and mentally. Towards the end of my high school career, track and field for me meant having to push through a difficult physical condition known as tarsal coalition, a condition that causes inflammation in my feet. With help from my coaches, I had to learn to endure past physical limitation and strengthen my faith in my abilities. By doing so, I became more confident in myself and I was able to help lead other team members to do the same. Not only did track and field teach me to lead, but it also taught me how to be a part of a team. I learned the value of teamwork through building relay race teams. In all relay races, I was either the

Today , Service Academies remain some of the most selective universities in America due to the quality of the education they provide. Cadets are given the

I had no experience as a runner nor did I have the form. This did not phase me however. That year I promised myself to push through all the six mile runs, sore legs, gnarly blisters, and at times, lack of oxygen. At every meet and speed workout practice I pushed myself further and further. I set a goal every time I kicked off from the starting line and never let myself get discouraged when I failed. By my senior year, I was the fourth fastest runner on varsity. That year our varsity team won the district meet, which qualified us to run in the 2016 state meet in Oregon. The transformation over the years were evident. My determination to accomplish my goal of becoming a faster runner was complete. If I had simply just given up that first day of practice, I wouldn't have ran along side of the fastest runners in Oregon or have met the multitude of people that are now my closest friends. Having a goal sets one up for a challenge, whether it being physically or mentally, goals keep us active and thinking in more ways than one. Still, if someone has self-control, confidence, and a goal, they are still not complete.

I would consider myself to have been a very committed athlete in high school because I worked my behind off training for every season. Leaving my blood, sweat and tears on the track, not walking off of it until I felt I had accomplished what I set out to do. We don’t just run, we work. We work on speed, endurance, strength and technique. We work on teaching ourselves how running is mostly about mindset rather than a physical thing. We do this exercise where you run a 400 meters telling yourself you’re a brick, sounds kind of dumb, I know. But after you run another 400 meter telling yourself you are feather, telling yourself you’re like Mayweather “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” Without even realizing it, even after running the first 400 and being dead tired, we realize our times for the second lap were faster than the first! You have to tell your body what to do and be mentally in control so when you’re on your final 200 meters you can push yourself to limits you didn’t know you had. You will find very few track athletes who actually enjoy running themselves to death on a daily basis, but we do it because when you cross the finish and look up and see you name on the score board in a top place, you will want to relive the moment over and over again because it is absolutely priceless. Then when I received the letter telling me I had been offered a scholarship to run and jump at a D1 school, all the hard work I had been putting into this sport over the past four years felt completely worth

Having grown up in the Tahoe Truckee area, my participation in athletics, and a multitude of other team based activities, have consumed a vast majority of my teenage life, and have aided in my finding a variety of things I am passionate about. These activities have taught me many important life skills that I am able to contribute to both the Team community and community as a whole. These competencies include a strong sense of leadership, accountability, a clear sense of self, and effective communication, all of which I utilize in my day to day life. These skills also provide me with the ability to set effective goals and accomplish them.

For 2 years I was a member of the Central Toronto Athletic Club. CTAC is a competitive middle distance running club that trains its athletes to compete in track and field and cross country events. It is a year round athletic club that is a platform for talented people of almost all ages to train and to focus on their self-progress as an athlete. At CTAC I was encouraged to push myself to test the limits of my speed, endurance and strength and to discover what my body is truly capable of. Running was a very satisfying sport because my achievements were directly proportional to the amount of work that I put in. At CTAC, I learned discipline, dedication and perseverance. I had to balance my schoolwork with daily practices or workouts, I ran six

College level competitive sports have many beneficial factors that follow its path for students. On the top of the list is leadership development. Once in the real world where you have to take initiative at a certain job or internship to move up the ladder for the bosses watchful eyes, these skills can be developed experience from college athletics programs. "Sports are educational in the best sense of that word because they teach the participant and the observer new truths about testing oneself and others, about the enduring values of challenge and response, about teamwork, about discipline and perseverance. Above all, intercollegiate contests — at any level of skill — drive home a fundamental lesson: goals worth achieving will be attained only through effort, hard work and sacrifice, and sometimes even those will not be enough to overcome the obstacles life places in our path." (Grace Chen)

Life changing experiences through extracurricular activities have given me the opportunity to discover my passion for leadership and service. Prominently my initial experiences while volunteering for Civil Air Patrol have shown me a life dedicated to service is unmeasurably rewarding especially when given the opportunity to lead your peers. Mentoring my followers and learning from their experiences have been so remarkable and rewarding. Deciding to pursue opportunities to lead and serve, the possibility of serving the United States of America as a commissioned officer was perfect. The idea of becoming a professional leader and warrior defending the nation and the ideals behind it would be a dream come true. Seeing the path of an officer fit my goals flawlessly, an education provided by service academy was severely

The values and beliefs of the Naval Academy and the people who stand for them is what attracted me. Serving my country as well as continuing my education is important to me. The Naval Academy would prepare me to become a successful officer and allow me to earn my degree. Attending Summer Seminar gave me a glimpse of not only what I'd be doing, but who I'd be working with. My squad leader impressed upon us that no matter how determined someone is, they can’t make it through the academy alone. I have been a part of teams my entire life and love that mindset at the Naval Academy. Surrounding myself with people who have strong ideals and hold themselves and others to a high standard is something I desire. Attending the Naval Academy would allow

Throughout my entire high school career, the best times I experienced happened when I was participating in Cross Country. Moreover, Cross Country has changed me in a way that nothing else has. After four years, the two best traits I was able to receive were those of leadership and perseverance.

In high school, distance running has improved not only my physical strength but also my mental toughness, and it has benefited various aspects of my life. By running seven miles per day consistently, I learned to persevere regardless of the difficulties and setbacks, and perseverance also enabled me to accomplish boring and complicated tasks such as spending hours finding and fixing one single unnoticeable bug in my program. Moreover, I became accustomed to challenging myself after I pushed my limits by ordering my legs to move in great pain during every race; accordingly, I would proactively seek academic challenges by taking courses at which I am relatively weak. As for the longest run, my life, I will keep running forward with the same spirit, never stopping self-improvement. Therefore, I will keep distance running in college.

My scholarship is an academic scholarship that I was awarded by the school for my high school grades and test scores. I don't know how much or the prerequisites, but in order to keep it, I must keep a 2.5 GPA. Last semester I took NHV (B-), Chem 1 (B), Calculus 1 (C), and Earth and Enviromental systems (C+). So, I started this semester with a 2.5 and wanted to do better. A personal goal of mine is to graduate with at least a 3.0. So I wanted to work harder this semester to bring up my grades and get a better understanding of the material. After the first couple of months I was planning and structuring my studying and work extremely well and was excelling in my coursework. However, I feel like I eventually exhausted myself and struggled on the last set of tests and finals.