John Kost '14 Recruiting Profile

All my life I have been interested in two things--computers/electronics and being on the water.  Boats, fishing, swimming, if it has to do with the water I am interested.  I began swimming when I was five years old and earned my open-water SCUBA diving certification as soon as I reached the minimum eligible age, 12.  I have been a year-round competitive swimmer for the past six years.  As a year-round swimmer, I strive to do my best every practice and race, pushing harder and harder every lap, even when I feel I can go no further.  Setting goals, accomplishing them, and setting new goals creates endless possibilities for me to improve and evolve, and fosters my drive to continue seeking the sense of satisfaction I feel when I achieve each goal.  I would like to continue swimming competitvely in college, gaining the experience and knowledge to be able to coach other competitive swimmers.  Ultimately, I dream of a future that includes meaningful full- or part-time responsibilities as a rescue swimmer.

After reaching my ambition to earn my license to captain a boat last summer, I began working on what I hope to be a tremendous personal achievement--I purchased a fixer-upper boat to restore, with the help of my father and brother.  This project provides the perfect opportunity for me to combine my life-long love of the water with my avid interest in computers and electronics.  I am expanding my general electronics knowledge and abilities, my understanding of material repairs, planning logistics and working within a budget.  It is my first experience with tiered goal setting and I am thoroughly enjoying the challenge, despite the difficulties. The open water will always be part of my life and continuously improving my knowledge and abilities will ensure that I become the best boatman I can be.

When beginning planning for my future, I knew finding a college and career that would allow me to work with computers while maintaining a close connection with the marine environment would be a challenge.  In addition, my extended family has a long history of military service and I have grown up aware of and eager to embrace my civic responsibility to serve my community and nation.   My goal to become a rescue swimmer will fulfill part of that aspiration and I am very willing to consider some type of military service to move even closer to achieving that dream.