Jai Hsieh-Bailey '20 Recruiting Profile

I am athletic and coachable. I work hard and study hard. Hopefully, I will be able to find a school that is a good fit where I can study and play soccer (and possibly baseball). 

The most important lesson I learned was from one of my coaches.

It was a warm, breezy, summer day with not a single cloud in the sky. The sound of rustling oak leaves hides behind the bitter voice of our coach. As we sit silently in the tall, itchy grass, our coach explains to us the many reasons why we lost such an important match in such a drastic way. He claims that we “are lost” and “don’t understand each of your roles.” As a young, egocentric 13-year-old, I did not want to hear his criticism. But now I can appreciate the importance and validity of this transformative piece of advice.

After providing the team with that initial insight, he went on to elaborate in an extremely unique way. As our knees grew weary from kneeling, he turned to each one of us and, one by one, asked the entire team to answer what we believed our roles were as a part of this specific team. Following the response of the last couple of players, our coach then proceeded to give us a lecture about how crucial it is to understand our role, in any life setting, not just on the field. He advised us to analyze ourselves, to fully understand ourselves and our role, and to think of ourselves in context of the people around us. He told me that day to “Think of yourself as a small piece to the whole system.” He told me to never try to be someone I wasn’t and to trust that the people around me will compensate for the tools, skills, and talents that I don’t have. The advice didn’t just end there. He continued by saying that once we understood ourselves, we then have to be the best at being us. To specialize, and to essentially master our own individual roles. Once everyone in any environment perfected his or her role, a perfect system would emerge in which each link works together to keep its chain intact. That day, Coach made us vow to always remain realistic of our own role and to never fall into a mental trap of complacency.

That advice has stuck with me these years and will always influence my mindset, feeding on any thoughts that tell me I am satisfied. It keeps me determined, hungry for the next step to come. That day, I reevaluated myself and because of it, I now have a clearer understanding of who I was, who I am, and who I want to be. I realize now what my role is within my family, within my teams, within my friend groups, and in my classes, and I will let no one looking for a similar role out work and replace me. I will work to be the best I can be, to know myself, and to deliver on my role in any given environment.