Personal Statement
My name is Rafael Jesus and I’m a U-18 Portuguese track & field athlete, 4x national champion, 2x runner-up national champion, and 17x regional champion. I’m a student-athlete looking to major in Electrical Engineering while showing my athletic skills in a competitive league. In short, I want to experience the best of both worlds.
As a U17 (High school freshman), I jumped 45’9’’ in the triple jump and 6’3’’ in the high jump, being 5’7’’ tall.
As a U18 (High school sophomore), I didn’t have many competitions because of the ongoing pandemic. The indoor season was canceled, leaving me with very few chances to develop my marks. Nevertheless, I matched my triple jump personal best and raised my high jump personal best to 6’6”, leaving me unsatisfied but more determined than ever to surpass them so I can fulfill my goals.
As a U19 (High school senior), I had a strong season opener. In the first competition of the year — in the high jump, I cleared a 6'5" jump and had a very close PR attempt at 6'7". In the triple jump, I broke my personal best with a 46' jump, and, two weeks later, broke it again, jumping 46'4.5" followed by a very tiny scratch jump measured at 47'7.5". This made me believe that big things are coming for this season.
I’m very passionate about everything related to engineering, robotics and computers. I’ve built a bipedal robot, a robotic arm and several computers since I was 10 and, lately, I’ve been working in a humanoid robot for a project for school.
The thing that I’m most proud of about myself is always wanting to be better. My biggest rival is myself and I’m always trying to surpass what I have accomplished in the past.
”It’s just pathetic to give up on something before you even give it a shot.”
