I graduated from Caesar Rodney High School and became the 1st member of my immediate family to attend college when I decided to play football and major in Mathematics at the school that best suited my needs: Wesley College. Wesley's math program was small but filled with innovative professors and linked closely with an award winning chemical kinetic research department headed by renowned educator Dr. Malcolm D'Souza. I studied applied and abstract mathematics while also learning pertinent information about the protocol for conducting research. The summer after my sophomore year I approached the chair of the mathematics department, Dr. Derald Wentzien, for permission to conduct an independent study about athletic participation in college. And in 2011, I begin researching Athletic Participation and itsTime Commitment as it Pertains to Academic Progress over the course of the fall semester while I lead the #3 ranked football team in Division III to our 3rd straight national semifinals appearance; the first time it had been done in its 141 year history. The following season I wrote The Art of Winning, a research study detailing the results of my findings, as well as the validity and implications of those results. I used my influence as a student-athlete, beat writer for the student newspaper The Whetstone, undergraduate researcher, and liaison for the Mathematics department to advocate for academic support and accommodations for underprivileged and underperforming students at Wesley College. I went on to accept a full scholarship to the University of Delaware's graduate education program and, in 2014, was hired by one of Delaware's most prestigious high schools, Cape Henlopen HS.I have spent the last 3 years executing rigorous versions of honors and college prep Statistics, Pre-Calculus, and Advanced Algebra. Now, I am ready to move on to the next chapter of my life. Feel free to contact me at erichgillespie93@gmail.com if you have any questions. All the best, Erich Gillespie Jr.