Nicolás Bagajewicz '22 Recruiting Profile

As you may have noticed, I'm a little young to be a senior. That's because I earned enough credits in middle school to go into my sophomore year as soon as I transferred from Alcott Middle School to Norman High School. Not only was I in math and science courses 4 years ahead of my peers, but I was in my middle school band.

When I first joined, I played clarinet and after a few weeks of getting to know the instrument, my band director decided to switch me to the french horn. He noticed potential in me that I never would have found or put to use without his help. After hours and hours of practice and busted chops, I developed muscle memory and skill that helped me move up to first chair in my section within weeks of switching instruments. That hard work and dedication followed me through to high school where I was memorizing music for a marching show in two weeks (whereas my upperclassmen peers had a month to work on that music and those two weeks to refine and prefect the show) and I stuck with my first chair position when marching season was over and it was time for concert band season.

After my first 2 years of band, I decided to stack another hobby onto swim and band so now not only was I an instrumentalist, but I was also a skilled vocalist. My first year of middle school choir, I was auditioning for the OkMEA Junior High State Choir. Qualifying was great, but the 3 days I spent out of town working on the music with all the other kids that had made it was one of the best experiences of my life. I decided to stick with choir (along with band and swim) through high school and I was one of the few that qualified to preform at the State Solo & Ensemble performances, but they were unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19

My freshman year of high school is also considered my sophomore year because I skipped a grade. So qualifying for the Class 6A Swim State Championships as a "freshman" was extremely rewarding. Getting to compete with my teammates and seeing older swimmers dominate the competition as we cheered them on was an inspiring moment that got me to stick with the sport. I qualified again as a Junior and competed in the finals for the 400yd relay with my best friends (if you'd like to see the results of that go ahead and check out the video on my page).

Competing and performing pretty much all of my life has not only pushed me to be a better an athlete and musician, but also a better student. I was encouraged by my coaches and directors to thrive in and outside of the classroom and if it weren't for them, I wouldn't be the hardworking and dedicated student that I am today.

During winter break of my Junior year, I changed my last name to my mother's maiden name. I also changed my middle name, which was given to me by my father (who named me after his brother), to my uncles' names on my mom's side. My full name is Nicolas Andres Alejandro Bagajewicz and I know it's a mouthful, but growing up my uncles were always there for me and my mom, and unfortunately, I can't say the same about my father. This drastic change in my life caused me to take a good amount of time to think about the man I wanted to become, and that was a man who pushed for quality and excellence.

Over the summer, I applied at my city's family aquatic center to work as a lifeguard. There, I was offered a position to teach private swim lessons to ages ranging from 4-15. After many successful lessons and compliments to my bosses about my dedication to my students and outgoing attitude/behavior, I was offered a coaching position at that facility.

Over the next 3 months, I worked as the "Westwood Family Aquatics Center Developmental Swim Team Coach," where I turned anxious beginner swimmers into intermediate and eager to compete athletes. I had my students conquer their fears of the diving blocks and the deep end of the pool, which not only helped their technique starting off the blocks but also in the lanes where their mental blocks were gone and they could focus more on their swimming technique, rather than their fears. My whole life, I've always done better in classes when I can eventually explain and help my peers with their subjects, and the same goes with swimming. As I saw my students progressing, I was putting in more time at home and during my breaks at work to better my own form and technique as a swimmer myself.