Nicholas Tarabokia '21 Recruiting Profile

This is my college essay, which I believe displays the student, athlete and most importantly the person I am now and what I will bring to colleges. My name is Nick Tarabokia and this is my story for how track and field has  changed my life. 

As I grabbed the discus, I noticed it seemed like a heavy frisbee. The weight was distributed throughout my hand, and I could feel the rubber braising my skin. This object was strange; it had an orange circular center with a broad black surrounding. As the sun shone on this object, I remembered my grandfather, his impact on me, and how he and the discus helped me discover myself. 

The summer before my freshman year was extremely difficult. My grandmother had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Being a cancer survivor myself, I knew about the pain that my grandmother would endure. I was also concerned about the emotional pain that my grandfather would encounter. I wanted to give my grandfather a distraction, so each day I would meet him at the park. Typically, we’d shoot hoops and talk, but one particular day, he said he had something different planned for us: throwing discus. 

The discus was something I never heard of before. To be honest, I thought that I would never like it. I humored my grandfather and let him teach me how to throw it. I dropped the discus right away and thought it wasn’t for me. But I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Being a natural athlete, I thought that throwing the discus would be easy; however, as I released my first throw, the discus pitifully flopped to the ground. I was shocked by how challenging the sport was, but I made it my mission to improve for myself and for my grandfather. 

Throwing the discus became a daily activity. Each time I threw, I got better. It was exciting, and I could feel my confidence building. My grandfather and I were always close, but the discus allowed us to tap into different emotions, have interesting conversations about life, and gave me a different outlook on the world. The discus enhanced our strong bond during a dark time.

Once I started high school, my life was fairly uneventful until my junior year. Junior year was full of challenges that I did not expect. Academics were more rigorous, and I decided that I had to choose between my two favorite sports, basketball and track and field, in order to manage my time. I didn’t know what to do. My mind kept going back to the day my grandfather showed me the discus. I thought about how the connection between me, my grandfather, and the discus became unbreakable. I also thought about how my grandfather, now in his 80s, still comes to see me throw-- just like we did in the grass field near his home. Reflecting on that summer, my heart ultimately led me to end my run in basketball. 

Until then, basketball had been a major part of my life. It was the first sport I tried when I finished cancer treatment as a child, and became my biggest passion. Basketball taught me about teamwork, motivation, and respecting others. The discus, however, gave me even more than basketball. The discus taught me how to focus on myself and helped me grow as a person. I developed self confidence, self worth, and self reliance while going outside of my comfort zone. These newfound characteristics helped me feel complete on the road toward maturity as I prepare for college. 

I would have never thought that the black rubber discus I picked up years prior would leave me with so much to offer myself and to the world. When the discus flopped to the ground that first time, I did not want to quit. I picked up the fallen discus and kept going, which is all I have known throughout my life -- just keep going.  As I enter college, I feel prepared to tackle a new challenge. I will do my best to succeed, as I did in discus. I will never give up trying.