Sam Sokalzuk '21 Recruiting Profile

My goals for college are to excel academically and athletically to prepare for a meaningful career. Academically, I’m looking to maintain above a 3.5 GPA and participate in research and internship opportunities as they arise. Athletically my goals are to make the championship of whatever division I am swimming in. Another one of my goals athletically is to help my team do the best possible by bringing a great attitude and my best effort to each practice and meet. I’m very different from other recruits because of my experience of moving every two years due to being in a military family. Moving every two years has helped me become adaptable to problems that arise and it has taught me how to interact and fit in with different groups of people. I also bring unparalleled determination to the table due to being brought up in a military household.  I have started from scratch with school and swim teams with every new place I moved due to not knowing anybody. Academically, I go to a magnet school that has very rigorous courses in math and science. It also includes a senior project that is required to have a 140 hours of work. I am also an A-/B+ student due to the Ap classes and magnet classes I am taking.  What makes me different athletically is that I have nine practices a week and my practice attendance is almost a hundred percent. Also, my coach designs practices that just don’t test my teammates and me physically, but mentally too. Whether it’s a threshold distance set or a short sprint set I do my best not to just focus on speed, but on all aspects of my stroke. In college, I plan to continue to build on my strengths and translate all the discipline, determination and adaptability I have learned into excellence in college and a career that contributes to our society afterwards.