Wesley Hong '19 Recruiting Profile

Football has taught me how to lead people of all backgrounds through trial and tribulation, when things are going well and when things aren’t. Stepping into a senior year, I made it my goal to be absolutely devoted to the team, being the best role model for the players around me and taking charge of how I wanted my season to play out.  The greatest challenge of my football career was before me, trying to be a leader with a team that was over 50% freshman, fighting to keep the culture and focus of the team, and doing everything for the betterment of the individuals on the team. Senior year I played at defensive end and middle linebacker, and I knew that the pressure was on me to be the cornerstone of the defense. In a very real sense, if people were to see me shaken the team could fall apart. Leading was more than just communicating the right play calls, it was also checking everybody's mentalities and making sure they were the readiest to play on game day. I had to know to set the tone in the weight room, I had to set the tone in practice, I had to set the tone on the field. No matter how tired I got, or how frustrated, I had to push through because I knew it would make the team better. I learned what leadership was all about, sacrificing what you want to do, not just making yourself better but sacrificing your time for the betterment of the team. I learned how to communicate to people through the emotions, and how to motivate them. I learned that it's easy to lead when your winning, but when frustration and anger set in you have your hands full, and while it would be less of a burden to let them work it out by themselves, leadership is seeing them through their problems. Serving people isn’t just a part of being on a team, there are families and people in circumstances beyond their control that need help. Through Boy Scouts, School, Church, and Football I’ve participated in numerous community service projects. From feeding impoverished kids and teaching them how to play football with my team, to organizing my own service project that benefitted and raised money for a hospitality home with the boy scouts, I’ve had quite a bit of practice putting my leadership to good use.  Football hasn’t just taught me leadership, team work and sportsmanship. It’s taught me how to act, how to push through the bad times, how to help others and pick them up, how to keep the people I’m with going, and what I should place value on. I think with those lessons received, I’ve been better able to help those that need help, not just on my team but in the community as well, and I’m better prepared to lead others in the future.