Hannah Santos '18 Recruiting Profile

In the world I live in, I tend to see everyone around me as more talented or more skilled whether it comes to field hockey or academics, and I always wonder “What makes them better than me?” With only this to see, I could come off as insecure or even unconfident, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Alongside these thoughts comes a fierce feeling of competitiveness which drives me to become better and better in order to catch up to the level of my peers.

In the very beginning of my field hockey career, I was grouped to play and train with the best goalies of my club due to scheduling reasons. The skill gap was huge; and it scared me to death. However, I still strove to catch up to them, and within three years I found myself within their range of skill. Along the way, I even discovered when I perform best, with the help of my great goalie coach. As sweat runs into my eyes and friends laugh along with me, I feel as if I could do anything, whether it comes to stopping fifty one-on-ones or achieving an A+ in Honors Chemistry.

With this view of the world, I set the bar high for everything, striving for goals just almost out of reach. I aim for high SAT scores, high grades, and a high GPA in order to achieve admission into the elite colleges of my dreams, and I aim to prevent every field hockey ball from entering my cage. Surrounding myself with fierce competition, I nurse a fiery determination to attain these goals, yet after I accomplish them, I know that I will reach for another bar that’s even higher than the one before.