My Career Plan by Joshua

My Career Plan by Joshua - March 2020 Scholarship Essay

Vince Lombardi said, “Leaders aren’t born, they are made. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal which is worthwhile.”

I’ve learned leadership through sports. Between the ages of 5 to 9, I was already playing five sports – soccer, football, basketball, track, and baseball. Eventually I focused on basketball, track, and cross-country at Clements High School in Sugar Land, Texas. I have made the varsity team in each sport that I have participated in. On the basketball team, I started at Guard/Forward and I was 2-Year Letterman.

Outside of school athletics, I played AAU Basketball for the R.Y.T.E.S Warriors and Cy-Fair Showcase. During summers, I also run for one of the best youth track clubs in the country, Track Houston. I was 2014 AAU Junior Olympic Indoor National Champion at 3000m. I am a 5-time AAU National Junior Olympic Outdoor Medalist. And I am a 5-time USA Track & Field (USATF) National Junior Olympic Outdoor Medalist. Even with the success I have had, my passion for sports has never subsided.

But in order to fulfill my sports dreams, I had to learn to manage and excel at my schoolwork. Critical to this journey was challenging myself with as many AP courses as I could possibly take. As a result, I am a winner of the AP Scholar with Distinction Award, given to students who receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. I scored a 780 in Math and a 660 in Reading for a total of 1440 on the SAT, placing me in the 98th Percentile (Nationally Representative Sample). Doing well in school and on these tests will allow me to continue to chase my sports passions in college.

I also had to learn to manage my time outside of school. I participated in several community service projects – some through my participation in the Leaders of Tomorrow mentorship program – and some through my involvement with Gigi’s Playhouse which offers services for people with Down Syndrome like my little sister. I also completed an internship with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner’s campaign as a canvasser, and I was promoted to Deputy Field Organizer. Successfully balancing my educational goals with my sports and other activities is a lesson that I can carry forward through college, graduate school, and into the future.

So far, I have already been accepted to begin my undergraduate studies at the University of Miami (FL), the University of Texas at San Antonio, the University of Houston, and Wichita State. I plan to major in Sport Administration as an undergraduate. Then I plan to attend law school. My 8 to 10-year plan is to become a sports agent. While this field will keep me close to the sports world that I love, I do have another reason for my interest. One issue that I would like to help people avoid in the future would be financial mismanagement, especially pertaining to athletes. Throughout my childhood, my father would always tell me stories of some of the most talented athletes that he ever saw, to later tell me that almost all of them were currently struggling. I have watched documentaries and read articles about how all of these athletes made tens of millions of dollars and were filing for bankruptcy five to ten years after their careers ended. I always thought that these types of financial issues could be easy to avoid if someone could provide sound financial advice and reasoning to athletes about making frivolous purchases.

Overall, participation in sports has taught me how to compete, how to overcome adversity, how to be a team player, and how to win. I am grateful for the opportunities and experiences that sports have given me – I wouldn’t be the same person without them. I will work hard to achieve my sports passions in college, law school, and beyond.

In order to achieve this, I will need to secure some additional scholarship and grant money – especially if I attend the University of Miami. Over the past 4 years, our family has undergone several setbacks with changes in my father’s employment and my mother’s kidney failure and transplant. Those challenges have made it more crucial that I apply for scholarships that are appropriate. Your scholarship will assist me in my goal of assisting the athletes – my future clients – but by extension their families as well.