Personal Statement
I’m a student athlete living in the UK eager to continue my academic and swimming career in the US. Currently I’m in my final year of high school and am planning to study either politics or economics at university. I’ve always been intrigued with global politics and economies as it’s something that is consistently changing and evolving and, in some cases, regressing as well as being unpredictable. The differing political and economic stand points from all over the world intrigue me and seeing the impact one country can have on the others is incredible.
My interest in swimming came from my dad who swam throughout his teenage years and early 20s but picked it back up in late 2013. He went on to compete at the World Masters in Kazan, Russia in 2015. His sheer determination and positive attitude, I find utterly inspiring because a few years prior to making it to the Worlds he hadn't been training since his early 20s and to see his sacrifices and hard work pay of, whilst working full time was incredible and shows that if you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything. I believe that this helped me become the person I am today because I wasn’t the person who was naturally talented in their chosen sport, I wasn't winning medals at 7,8 or 9 and I didn't even make the Scottish nationals until I was 13 which most young children make at 11. Even through the later years when I kept just missing out of the Scottish youth development squad by milliseconds, I believe his example of sheer determination helped boost not just confidence in my ability but pushed me to prove to myself that I could achieve my goals. Especially throughout the last 2 years I learned more about my myself through swimming because the multiple obstacles I faced including lockdowns and the local pool being flooded which led to reduced pool time and having to train with a different coach for four months whilst in the 2nd lockdown. However, I believe that these challenges helped develop me as a person as it made me realise how lucky I was but also allowed to me to get out my comfort zone which led me to grow as a person and helped to increase my confidence which I am forever grateful for.
I would like to continue my swimming and academic journey in the United States because it will allow to be improve my swimming and also my academic ability as US colleges have outstanding coaching and facilities combined with a strong team spirt which I believe I would thrive in.
