Personal Statement
Greetings,
My name is Chinyere Onyinyechukwu Mgbemena. I am a 17-year-old girl currently living in Harare, Zimbabwe. I was born and raised in Zimbabwe; however, my nationality is Zimbabwean / Nigerian. I had my primary school at Eaglesvale Junior School and currently taking my high school at Eaglesvale Senior School.
My sporting carrier blossomed when I started my third grade, till present day I believe it’s still growing, and I feel my characteristics have grown as well. In third grade first term cross county meets where held. Eaglesvale Junior School, Gateway Junior School and Lilfordia Country School where there most important meets held. My first event was at Eaglesvale Junior School and Gateway Junior School at which I obtained 1st place in the under 9 girls’ event for both. The Lilfordia Country School event was and is still the longest cross-country and the hardest therefore meant that would be the place to make a big name for yourself. Age groups where combined whereas there was the junior category, the middle category and the senior category. In my junior category I came 2nd place. Being the youngest to ever come in the top 5.
Throughout the years I’ve managed to obtain 1st place for every cross-country meet till 7th grade. I was made the cross-country captain. I was given the responsibility of a whole team of young cross-country runners and I’m proud to say my co-captains and I lead the team into victory for 5 years. Athletics season came around right after cross country season, therefore our athletics team was very strong. I was also made the Captain of the athletics team in 7th grade. As a captain, I learnt that winning is not always the best motive, having fun and fun and competing is the best gift. Hockey season came around in the second term. In 3rd grade to 5th grade I was always told that it wasn’t for me, I can’t do everything. I started at the bottom, fillies D and worked my way up to fillies A in the 5th grade. My passion for hockey did not stop there. I went on to play for the 1st team in 6th and 7th grade.
In 7th grade I was promoted to Hockey captain. I was selected to play for the Harare A hockey team in Bulawayo. Being captain helped me understand teamwork, it helped me understand that I’m not always going to be right or that everyone’s opinion matters. I was also awarded the privilege of being a school prefect. Along with my other classmates, we helped keep the standards of our school very high both in education and in extracurricular activities. During speech night, I was awarded Sports Woman of the year.
I started high school in the year 2015 at Eaglesvale Senior School, awarded with a full scholarship. First term as form 1s (8th grade) we had examinations to put all the students into their respective classrooms, there where 3 classes, 1A1,1A2 and 1B1. I managed to be selected into 1A1. Being in the A class, I had to keep my grades high and the pressure was put on our shoulders as a class. It taught me how to work under pressure. However, not hard enough; I was moved to 1A2 in second term. Speech night was done in second term, being elected and winning sports woman of the year. Eaglesvale had cross-country. The meets I attended where held at Arundel School and Lomagundi Senior School. Of which in both I obtained 1st place when I was in the 2nd form. Form 3(10th grade), I worked extra hard both in second term and third term in both my academics and my sports. Unfortunately, I father passed away due to kidney failure. It has taught me that life is too short to be second guessing yourself, grab ever opportunity that comes your way. In 2nd term, I was number 2 out of my whole class and in the 3rd term I was number 1 out of my whole class. I was moved back form 4A2 into 4A1. In the 11th grade during speech night, I attained my first academic award; Coming 1st place in the subject, Information Communication Technology. That same night I was awarded Sports woman of the year for the 5th time in a row. That same year, I was selected to run for my district and national team for the 4th time. I was selected by the hockey association to play for the Harare C team and the Zimbabwe B team under 16 girls in 2018 and in 2019 I was selected to play for the Harare A team. I’ve been in the first aid club for 2 years now. In total the medals I have gotten over the years are more than 300 combined from cross-country, athletics, hockey and swimming. I had been swimming since I was in the fourth grade till present day. I recently went to Lesotho for the Region 5 youth games. I represented Zimbabwe swimming. I obtained 3 silver medals and 1 bronze medal. I got 2 silvers for 50 breast stroke and 100 breast stroke, 1 bronze medal for 200 breast and 1 silver for the 4 by 100 girls medley relay. I’ve worked extremely hard in order to prove that I can do it all, both academically and sporting wise. Not just prove a point, also to find happiness in something I live and fortunately I found it in varies sporting activities. I also do what I do in order to make my father proud and my family proud.
Yours Sincerely,
Chinyere Onyinyechukwu Mgbemena
