grad school personal statement

Personal Reasons

Sports have always been a large part of my life and is the catalyst to all the values which I hold today. At an early age I was introduced to playing the sports of tennis, soccer, and basketball and became a fan of football and baseball from my father’s love of the sports. These after-school activities were a large part of my childhood and this would allow a release from home life and the loneliness of my parents being away from home while serving in the military. The unique experience of being a military child who was also able to move to a new country at the age of 12 give me once in a lifetime opportunity in sports. Every practice would be a time for me to enjoy myself and just be a kid and not worry about my parents being in dangerous situations while defending the country. Following practice my enjoyment and obsession of sports continued at home where I would dream of taking the last shot in the NBA finals, hitting the winning home run in the World Series or the kicking the winning goal at the World Cup. My childhood was all about sports and when I was not playing I was watching it and idolizing the athletes on the field and wanting to be like them. These moments are the moments that made me see the grit a determination of individuals showing the ups and downs in a couple hours and showing how they could overcome these obstacles and make me believe that whatever I face I could do the same. The times which I really saw this was while watching football games. When I saw a team have a heartbreaking loss it showed me that sometimes even if you try your hardest things still may not go your way. Specifically, I remember watching in 2009 when the team lost their play game to the New York Jets because of a missed field goal. At the time I was crying and so sad and mad that all that work was in a losing effort but now I see that that is just how life is sometimes. In contrast, I was also able to see on every game winning drive by Tom Brady that with enough hard work and belief in you and your team there can be success.

 At the age of 12 the military had stationed our family to Italy. In this new land I was afraid, I didn’t know anyone and struggled to meet new people in the beginning. In an effort to make friends my parents put me in sports. The first sports season which came up was soccer. This sport was where I was most familiar at the time because I had been playing in recreational leagues since I was 5 years old. On the field I was able to make a lot of new friends and have the thrill of competition. In the winter came Basketball, this sport was something I was also very familiar with, but I had never really done competitively. This was the first time which I had played organized basketball and when I started to truly love the game. The opportunity showed me how basketball was more than just putting the ball in the hoop but had an elegance to it and a strategy for success. The final sport of the year was baseball. At the time baseball was something I had never tried before but I had always watched on the screen. I would go out in the backyard after watching games and hit tennis balls over the fence and imagine winning the world series for my hometown Padres but never saw a pitch thrown at me. However, in that first year in Italy this became my favorite sport. It was the biggest sport on the base and was a whole community kind of thing so every day after school we would play baseball even if there was no practice. Playing baseball would go until we couldn’t see the ball and then we would play catch afterwards. Games would be with anyone and everyone, baseball and softball players would come to play and, on the side, argue which sport was better, but in the end we knew we had so much passion for the sport which we called our own. After that spring baseball carried on into summer and this is where I saw what real “travel ball” competition was like. We played to become the Italian representative for the European Championship. Our team practiced long and hard and had our coaches yelling at us until they were blue in the face but at the end of the day they knew how to make us feel like we did a good job and we were in a safe and fun environment. This competitive spirit was taken to a new level my freshman year of high school. The first sport that came that year was tennis. Tennis was another one of those sports which I was very familiar with and had played for a long time. High school sports in Europe was a whole new experience because I played people from all over the world. I met people from Spain, Germany, Asia  and all over Italy and this feeling it gave me was like being a professional. Each week we would go to another city in Italy and would have to leave school a couple of days early. We would ride a bus from a range of 2-10 hours and then play our game and head back home and the results would be announced at school the next day. These high school years were exciting because I had to plan how everything had to be done. I had to plan when I was going to do my homework, practice and find time for other fun things. This made me more responsible and was a new thing that sports taught me and thats planning and organization. This continued through my freshman year in the winter when I played basketball and we took home a European Championship and when I played baseball and we placed fourth at the European tournament. These team sports also taught me about teamwork and brotherhood. This showed me how others are willing to sacrifice for each other and be unselfish to reach a common goal. Other than my experiences as an athlete sports has impacted me with my experiences as a fan. Being a military kid caused me to move around a little but I lived in San Diego for most of my high school experience and I was able to see how involved sports teams were to the military community. They would come to the base every year and provide tickets to veterans. I was able to to meet players when they visited the military base and attend sporting events that every sports fan could only dream of. For training camp when the Chargers used to be in San Diego they would always have one day where they visited the military base, and this was a time where I could meet players and get some balls signed and watched how they worked on their craft. This inspired me to become a better athlete and a harder worker in life. The most exciting sports event I went to was in 2018 I was able to go to the Rose Bowl. This game showed me the dedication of fans and was where I enjoyed my first “big game” live.  These experiences have developed a love for sports and what it can teach an individual and is why it became my goal to become a General Manager of a Sports team and help others see the inspiration that athletes are to the world and give an experience to the fans and give them the same joy I was able to feel.

Professional Reasons

These values have continued through my time in high school and now in my time in college. In a lot of points of time in college I thought it was the end of the road for me that I would not be able to pass a class or accomplish something but the grit which sports has instilled in me through the years has been able to help me succeed where I thought I would fail. The teamwork I had learned in sports as well has also carried on through college. During school I had many personal projects as well as school projects where I had to learn to work with others quickly and complete a task. My time in college has also enhanced my love and determination to get into the sports industry because it has shown me the general idea of what it means to be a marketer in the professional world. I was able to be part of many research projects about groups of people and has intrigued me about how people create preference due to their lifestyle based on income, where they live and many other factors. In school I was also able to see how companies are still trying to figure out social media and how my skills in social media can be a great asset to companies in the future. While I was in college I was able to meet a lot of elite athletes and seeing them train showed me what all the business parts of sports management are for and even being able to help them continue by navigating through the NCAA.

Academic Reasons

 As I approached the table for the University of San Francisco I felt very welcomed. Upon further research into the Sport Management program I felt that this could be an environment where I would be able to grow and turn my love of sports into a career. The format of the school as mostly working with teams is a perfect environment for me because it will allow me to use skills taught in classes from the University as well as teamwork in a real-world environment. I learn best when I use the skills I learn instead of just a test which this program can provide. The alumni network which is spread across the nation they displayed in the brochures and pamphlets was impressive and I can see the type of schooling environment which I will be able to learn in will help me in my career and as a graduate of this program I will contribute to the impressive network already established. My sports journey has been long and spanned across continents and I look to continue it at the University of San Francisco.