Kendall Nigh '22 Recruiting Profile

After dedicating years of hard work and commitment to pursuing my ambitions for gymnastics, my dreams were quickly halted. I had broken my elbow. This injury required surgery, rehabilitation, and mandatory time off from the sport. During the six month recovery period, I prepared to return to the gym as soon as possible. It was during this time, however, a family friend approached me and introduced me to the idea of diving. This idea was interesting because it leveraged my gymnastics skills. Also, I was entering high school in the fall and knew that I wanted to be heavily involved in a school-based team sport. While my school did not have a gymnastics team, it did have a Swim and Dive team. 

Once I was given the okay to go back to the gym, I decided to give diving a try. And, just like that, a new dream emerged! The passion I had for gymnastics transferred immediately over to this new sport. As a value-add, I could also dive as part of a team while representing my school. 

The transition from gymnastics to diving proved to be smooth and logical. Since entering the pool, I have been working diligently on perfecting my dives, learning new ones, and striving to reach my fullest potential. I do not foresee my passion for diving and my participation in the sport being over after high school.

Instead, I have the goal of becoming a student-athlete at the collegiate level. While working towards being a collegiate level diver is of top importance, academics have always been my number one priority. I believe that what I do in the classroom is as important as what I do in the pool. I am currently taking all honors and advanced placement courses and am proud that I maintain straight A’s. My academic successes are due to a lesson that I learned when I was young. That lesson is that hard work and effort are significant contributors to any success. 

In addition my academic successes, my strong work ethic has also helped me set high goals for myself. I am currently striving to become valedictorian of my graduating class.  I am also very involved in many extra-curricular activities. For example, I volunteer regularly at my church as a preschool and kindergarten teacher during Sunday school. I am the secretary of our school’s Interact Club, which allows high school students to get out into the community and make a difference through volunteer work. I enjoy being apart of our High School’s drama club where I am backstage helping move props around to make the show run smoothly. Finally, I partake in our school’s Spanish Club and am helping to plan a trip abroad.

Through these diverse experiences I have learned valuable leadership skills and have developed into a well-rounded individual. I believe that I can be a great addition to any team and a hard working athlete for any coach. Although I know there are thousands of talented and competitive athletes out there, my work ethic, dedication to the sport and leadership skills set me apart from others. I hope to find a school that can challenge me athletically and academically. I am more than excited to begin the recruiting process and hope that you can help make my dream of being a collegiate diver a reality!