- March 2016
Personal Statement
I take great pride in being part of something. Whether it is my high school swim and dive team, my choir, my club swim team, my high school's SAAC, or other organisations. I celebrate in the group's success, because I know that is how we are seen.
I enjoy stepping into the leadership role, such as my junior year high school team, where I was named our first non-senior captain in seven years. We had lost our entire coaching staff, including our program's only coach ever, and half of the team. My fellow captains and I began with off-season team parties, and the first one was a wake-up call: a fight broke out between seniors. We had to learn that, while our coach made questionable comments and decisions, he had our backs and we had to have his. With that, we started picking up the pieces, rebuilding our program. By the end of the season, our team had formed into a band of brothers: we cheered each other on every race, we became friends in the classroom and outside of it, and even though our team's record did not show it, we saw teammates dropping loads of time. Plus, we had nearly perfect participation at team functions like after-meet parties and the bleach and shave tradition, which Salem Swim and Dive had not seen in 6 or 7 years.
While I feel my strengths are as a leader, my endeavours with the vocal arts have taught me how to be a team player, as well as how to balance my swimming and academics when another wrench is thrown in. My junior year saw my choir being invited to perform at the Vatican, as well as in Venice, during Holy Week. Beyond the countless additional hours of practice that is required to perform an hour of the highest level of music in the Holiest place in the Catholic faith, I had to learn how to be a better follower. I am not the best singer, my voice does not sound "angelic". I found that my job was being a solid, reliable backup singer, filling in the brunt work of the music so that others could show off their vocal prowess. This taught me the importance that B and C swimmers carry, as they score the decisive points at meets and keep the team chemistry afloat.
