Personal Statement
Troy Chaput
Personal Statement
I am not what you would call an indoor person, I am constantly outside. I don’t like being cooped up in the house, television and video games bore me. I am always out playing soccer, baseball, golfing, skiing, hiking and I am an all around outdoorsman. When the weather cooperates, my friends and I like to go to the field and play pickup soccer and baseball games. During the winter, I enjoy skiing; I am on the Ski Club at my school. I also enjoy running in obstacle races, such as the “Rugged Maniac” race. My favorite thing to do when I am not playing sports is to be in the outdoors. I hunt, fish, hike and camp out all year long. Being in the woods clears my mind and gets rid of any stress I might have. I don’t really care if I catch any fish or kill any animals, I just love being out there. It is all very spiritual to me.
I am also very close with my family. I have a pretty small family, but they are great. My mom and dad are very supportive of me and my endeavors. While my sister and I might fight a lot, we love each other. My grandmother on my dad’s side and my grandfather on my mom’s side both died before I was born, but I am lucky enough to be very close to my remaining grandparents. I get along very well with all my aunts, uncles and cousins too. Family is definitely the most important thing in my life.
My mom is the one that got me interested in soccer; she played in high school and intramural leagues as an adult. My dad was a football and baseball guy, so he helped by coaching my baseball team for eight years. I started off just playing in our local park and recreation league. Eventually, I moved up to a higher league called Pioneer Valley. Next, I played for a premier team called Berkshire. I still play on Berkshire in the winter and spring, but I play varsity soccer for my high school in the fall. I made the varsity team my freshman year. I also referee the youth soccer program in my town.
I learned a lot about myself and soccer my freshman year. I realized that if you work hard enough, you can accomplish anything. I worked my butt off at the gym and on the field and was rewarded by making the varsity team. The team had eight starting seniors, but I kept working hard and learned a lot from my coach and teammates. After a few games, I started to get a little paying time. Half way through the season, one of the seniors got suspended for eight games and the coach put me in his place. I started and played every minute of those games. I did extremely well and learned a lot from the experience. We did not lose a single game I played in and I was very proud of holding down that position on defense. My team went on to win the Division One State Championship that year. We played a team that was much more talented than us, but we were more physical and worked harder than they did and won the game. Our coach emphasized conditioning throughout they year, and you could tell about half way through every game, they other teams would get tired and we were in such good shape, we could keep going hard. So, through hard work I was able to make the team and play a lot and the team through hard work won the State Championship. At our banquet at the end of the year, the seniors on the team voted unanimously to award me the Jack Allen 12th Player Award.
As a player, there are obviously players that have more talent than me. However, there is no one on the field that has more desire and heart than me. I will go through a brick wall if it means winning a ball or winning a game. I believe I have very good vision of the field and instincts. This helps me to be in the right place at the right time. I believe my most important trait as a player is my physicality; I am very physical, but clean. The other team and fans usually hate me by the end of the game, but that does not bother me, as long as I know I am playing soccer the right way. I am in my sophomore year now; I start and play every minute of every game. My coach has me playing center back. It is my responsibility to be the leader of our defense and make sure no one scores on us.
As far as academics go, I am a good student. I make honors every quarter. My favorite subjects are history, physical education and science. I am still not a hundred percent positive what I would like for a career. If I do not become a professional soccer or baseball player, I was thinking of combing my passions into my career by becoming either a wildlife biologist, environmental police officer, or getting my law degree and becoming a sports agent.
The final thing I would say about myself deals with who I am as a person. I try to live by the “golden rule,” treat others the way I would like to be treated. I feel that I have good character traits such as courage, decisiveness, dependability, enthusiasm, initiative and being unselfish. However, I would say the two character traits that describe me the most are loyalty and integrity. I think I really have a good sense of humor too.
I hope this gives you a brief look into my life. If you have any questions or would like me to expand on any aspects of my life, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Sincerely,
Troy Chaput
