Ethan Patrk '24 Recruiting Profile

ETHAN PATRK- PERSONAL STATEMENT

My Inspiration and Motivation:

The worst thing in life is to be wasted talent. 

• Peter Patrk
• 
  

Your love makes me strong, your hate makes me unstoppable.

• Cristiano Ronaldo

There is no harm in dreaming of becoming the world’s best player. It is all about trying to be the best. I will keep working hard to achieve it but it is within my capabilities.

• Cristiano Ronaldo

Talent without hard work is nothing.

• Cristiano Ronaldo

The above four quotes have motivated me to be who I am today. Also, there have been two key factors in my childhood that have helped me shape the way I want to live my life. The first factor has been my family and how important they are to me. I have realized that no matter what happens to me my family will always be there to care and love me. My dad, mom, and brother have always been around to help me learn and grow as a human being. They have been there to cheer all my successes and help me when I have failed and needed their support. The second key factor that changed my life was watching the Cristiano Ronaldo documentary with my dad. To see what he had to do to achieve his goals and all the obstacles he had to overcome to be who he is was simple the best motivation I needed as a young soccer player and person in this world. Cristiano also valued his family and used them for support and motivation to succeed in his career and in his life. He worked hard to grow his talent and never stopped pushing to be the best. He also never forgot to be a generous family man and person. He kept his family close and used them as his strength. He also used his wealth to give back to people that need help in this world.

The first of my four quotes that have shaped who I am today is from my dad. I don’t know how many times he reminds me that the worst thing in life is to be wasted talent. The first time he told me this I was not total sure what he meant. He explained to me that even though you have talent it doesn’t mean that you will succeed in life. He taught me that you must work hard every day to be the best you can be. Talent alone does not make you succeed in life. This has motivated me not to be lazy and to work hard to become better in everything I do and never stop learning and growing as an athlete and person. My dad motivated me with this quote to go from playing house league soccer four years ago to making one of the top provincial teams in Ontario, Canada today. I took the talent I had and worked hard every day to become better. I put in all the extra training, watching of soccer videos, and asked for mentoring of great coaches to be the player I am today. I will never stop working hard and will never waste the talent I have been given.

The other three quotes above come from an athlete that motivated me each day to not give up on my dreams and to work hard to achieve them. My favorite soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo has taught me to be the best I can be and to believe in myself. Many people have told me I would never be a great soccer player and always tried to put me down. This was very hard to take as a young person and it made me feel bad about myself.  My dad always tells me to use this hatred to motivate myself and prove everyone wrong and I did. He always tells me that Ronaldo was hated and people always try to put him down. He always says, “be like Ronaldo and prove them wrong”. He also always tells me you must believe you are the best. I have learnt that I need to have the proper mind set to be successful in life. This proper mind set and hard work will always make my end goals achievable. It has allowed me to make all the teams I have tried out for and progressed my game to the top league in Ontario.

I never knew that my soccer journey would pave the path to mold me to be the person I am today. My love for this sport has been such a motivating factor to making me a mature and responsible person. I have learnt that life is not easy and it can swallow you up if you let it. My bond with my family has made me strong and confident. They are my rock and have made me the man I am today. My dad always reminds me how hard Ronaldo worked to achieve his goals and become the best player in the world. My life has been shaped by these words and by the love and motivation of my family. I can and will succeed to be a professional soccer play and even more importantly a great human being.