Personal Statement

Taking risks is scary and doing things that are very outside your comfort zone are always hard but sometimes you have to do those things to know how you will be able to handle them. And that's exactly what I did. This was sophomore year, before covid, before the riots, before the year 2020 really took off. I was lounging at my house on a weekend not too long before Covid hit and my mom sped into my room and asked me if I wanted to go play football at another school.

At first, I was definitely skeptical about the situation, anyone would be. Then once my mom told me about the school and its success with football and its success with getting kids into good colleges, I was more sold on the idea. I remember a week before I was about to move, the football team met with Coach Day, and after that I definitely was worried if I was making the right decision or not, which was something that tore me up day in and day out.

After thinking and worrying about all of it I decided I was going to stick with it and go play at this other school, so I unenrolled at Pacific and went to this school that was all new. I definitely disappointed some friends with my decision, which hurt , but I felt like this was an opportunity that I couldn't let pass me by.

I ended up moving in the heat of the pandemic, everyone was quarantined, all businesses were closed and nothing was accessible. That made moving difficult because it was hard to get into places and get a moving truck. Once I got settled in, my new coaches would text us a workout every day so that the players could get in shape. 

That lasted for what seemed like the longest time but when camp started, time started to speed by. We practiced four days a week from 3pm- 8pm. The practices were long but I definitely enjoyed them. Not long after, school started. We had to wear masks and get our temperatures checked every day before we hurried into the school. The precautions I felt were a little overboard, but at least I didn't have to stay at home and do online schooling. 

When the football season was supposed to start, it didn't, our season got delayed until week seven. Which means we only had 3 regular season games before we went to the playoffs, which was hard. Our team was 7-0 before we went into our last game of the season. We played a team that we were confident in beating but then had a bad game and ended up losing. After that semester I realized that this was a good experience but I didn't want to continue that for my senior year. 

The coaching was good but they were always negative and I didn't really enjoy that part of the change that I made. I moved back to Pacific and got enrolled in school and started football with the team. I realized that I was faster, I could move quicker, and my IQ was definitely higher than it was before, these things I didn't realize until I came back which made me think that moving away wasn't such a bad idea.

Moving away helped me more than I thought, but being back feels great. Now I'm able to finish off my high school season with my boys.

This is here to show and tell that I'm willing to take risks, I'm taking a risk pursuing a college that I never thought I would have an opportunity to attend. Since I am willing to take risks, this school and career will be perfect for me, and even though I have struggled in school, I'm willing to take the risk and work hard so that my goals/dreams become reality.