Tenacity has played a key role in my academic and personal goals. Growing up, I realized from a young age that I had an undeniable passion for boxing. Ironically, my passion lead to the most difficult struggle I’ve ever faced.

Unlike my fellow peers, I strayed away from the normal athletic pursuits and instead of representing a football uniform, I found myself in the gym with boxing gloves strapped to my wrists. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that like many contact sports, injury is always a possibility. My sophomore year, I was training six days a week, for multiple hours a day. Pushing myself at this extent led to a severe stress fracture in my right shoulder: my punching arm. The doctors advised me that this injury might inhibit me from ever fighting at my caliber again. I felt devastated and helpless to my injury and for days after hearing the news, I feel into a depression that felt inescapable. However, in a moment of epiphany and with the help of my loving and motivational coach, I decided not to be a victim; this was not the end of my dreams. In the months to come, I clawed my way through countless hours of physical therapy and rehabilitation. Eight months later, I found myself at the qualifiers of the US Junior Olympics. Six rounds of fighting later, I stood on the podium victorious. I will never forget the feeling I had that day, the day my dreams came