Personal Statement

        The road to who I am today was not an easy one by any means. It really tested me as a person and made me question how I would react to it; whether I would give up, or keep going. At a young age, my father passed away. My mother also “passed away”, during my freshman year. Their deaths have created the most excruciating pain I had ever endured. The death of my parents almost destroyed me, but I didn’t let it. It me stronger and smarter throughout the process of recovering from this devastating tragedy.

My mother’s passing really made me question how I had been living, and I concluded that I needed to change. I pushed harder in school for better grades. I put myself in the weight room, dropping my body weight from 355 to 275 pounds. Her death physically shaped me. My father’s death shaped my passions. I have always found football to be exciting to watch because of my dad. We would watch the Bears game anytime it was on. However, it wasn’t until I put on the pads for the first time, in my sophomore year of high school, that I found my love for playing the game. Playing football has also helped me feel more connected to my father.

        Despite the fact that my parents are no longer able to see the results of their parenting, I still want to make them proud. I know that I want to graduate high school with a good GPA, as well as good SAT and ACT scores. Then I want to go into college and receive my bachelors for Business Management. But I never had a passion for school like I do for football. For the record, I have played ice hockey for 11 years but have never learned as much as I have with football. I learned what it was like playing for not your team, but your family; your brothers. I have also found out that I work even harder when people doubt me. I played JV my first year and did not do very exceptionally at it. Nobody thought that I would even step onto the Varsity field the next year, especially since none of the other offensive line players were leaving, as they were only Juniors. But that only fueled my desire to be better than them, as well as my hunger to not just step onto the field, but to have a starting spot. I hit the weight room, and worked my tail off, all to receive what I wanted to. I ended up being the center and starting all 10 of our games. I work hard, but when people doubt me or hate on me, I work even harder to become the best I can be.The road to who I am today was not an easy one by any means. It really tested me as a person and made me question how I would react to it; whether I would give up, or keep going.