I want to express my gratitude for the scholarship awards given to me through the Gold Beach Educational Fund. The Educational Fund has changed my life by making it possible for me to afford college. To show my appreciation, my future plans include giving back to my community in many ways such as volunteering my time to the students that struggle in school, as I have.
Although school hasn’t come easy to me, I have been on the honor roll consistently since the sixth grade. Through hard work, perseverance, good study habits, and support from my family and community, I found ways to overcome my learning disabilities and I graduated near the top of my class with honors and was ranked fifth. Now, I am planning my future.
Golf is my passion. I have participated in Oregon Junior Golf Association tournaments all over Oregon for the past three years. In 2014 I won the Peter Jacobson Tournament in Albany, Oregon. Aside from playing in OJGA tournaments, I was also a member of the Gold Beach High School golf team for the past four years. Though we did not make it to state this year, I did take first place in the Bandon Crossings Tournament. This has inspired me towards a career involving Professional Golf Management. (This is not playing golf for a living, like Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus, this is managing the business of golf.)
In the fall of last year, I applied to several universities that have PGM programs. The objective of these programs is to prepare students to be golf professionals, which requires Professional Golf Association certification. There are not many of these programs in the United States. I have found the most efficient and productive way for me to become PGA certified is to earn a professional golf management degree. After two visits to the University of Idaho, I met with teachers and counselors, sat in on some classes, and I made a decision that this is the college for me. U of I offers everything I am looking for in a university. It is a small college of approximately 12,000 students and it is is the closest university to Gold Beach that offers this program. A PGM degree is not only about golf, it is a degree in business management and marketing. With this degree, I sincerely believe I wll find myself in a career that I can love and be happy with, even if that career is outside of golf. As of now, I plan to become a golf instructor. I find that teaching the game is fun, fulfilling, and allows me to interact with others on a social level.
I think you can see that, despite some learning handicaps, I am a very passionate about what I do. I will keep this enthusiasm and my work ethic throughout my entire life and I will do whatever it takes to succeed.
Again, I want to thank everyone who helped me attain these scholarships.