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Throughout my entire school career, K-8, I strived to be the best student, only making one B; I cried when it happened. During Covid-19 and the middle of my 8th-grade year, I moved to Las Vegas from New Orleans. As a quiet, reserved person, I struggled to make friends and built a strong relationship with my mother. At home, she and my younger brother broke me out of my shell. We played games, rode bikes, learned how to cook, and just spent time together. They kept me from being sad about struggling to make friends. When I first started high school at Western, I joined Junior ROTC to get out of P.E. My instructor, and later wrestling/cross country coach, was impressed with my academic performance and pestered me about wrestling constantly. I finally gave in and showed up to practice and ultimately fell in love with the sport. |
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| When I first started wrestling, I could not do a push-up or run a mile. I was one of the worst athletes on the team and struggled immensely with learning wrestling moves. I continued to show up every day in the off-season and gave every workout everything I could. My coach thought I would only win 1-2 matches and would struggle throughout my first year. I proved him very wrong. My first season, I placed 2nd at regionals and 4th at state out of all female wrestlers in Nevada after just a few months of wrestling. On the second day of the state tournament my first year, I found out my mother, my best friend, passed away. My whole life, it was me and her, and later on me, her, and my brother. I was heartbroken when I found out, it felt like my whole life was ripped from me as my brother also had to move back to New Orleans. Despite the pain, I persevered and decided to keep wrestling and took fourth, as mentioned above, with a season record of 36-12. |
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Simultaneously, I was working hard in Junior ROTC and academics and ended up as Corps Commander (president) of my unit and in the top 1%. I also participated in cross country, which was even more difficult for me. At the time, I was experiencing problems related to asthma and was the slowest runner on the team. Even though I felt I was running for no reason, I kept giving each run my best effort. By the time regionals had come, I was much faster and was a key part in helping my team qualify for state. My junior season was even better than the first; I ended off with 3rd place finishes at the region and state tournaments. My end-of-season record was 46-6. In my second cross country season, I improved my best 3.1-mile time by two minutes and helped my team take 3rd at state. At Freakshow, I became a wrestling All-American by taking 5th place in a 64-person bracket of wrestlers from all around the country. |
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| My senior year was my best season; I was in the finals every tournament despite an ankle injury I experienced. I ended off with a 29-3 record as a regional champion, state runner-up, and with a career record of 122-36. I accomplished all of this while also being the National Honor Society President of my school’s charter, former Corps Commander of my Junior ROTC unit, and amassing a 4.931 GPA. Following the death of my mother, a school counselor told me I would not be valedictorian, or anything close. I made it a high personal goal to prove her wrong, and I am on track to be salutatorian. I was accepted to Harvard University, where I will be attending in the fall. I was also offered a letter of assurance to the United States Air Force Academy, but sadly could not accept because I was disqualified for my breathing condition. |
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| I am extremely grateful for my family, friends, teammates, teachers, and anyone else that supported me through my journey; I would not be where I am without you guys. When someone told me I couldn’t do something or a tragedy struck, I did not get discouraged but instead found another way to succeed. I hope I can help others who are struggling see that they are not alone, and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Just keep pushing., |
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