Sports
Time in Nature
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Standing in front of a long trail in a beautiful valley in Zion National Park in Utah. Growing up, we took a lot of long bike rides and hiking trips, which may have helped me learn how to value the journey over the destination in life.
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This picture is of my family and me in the back country horseback riding. We crossed rivers and enjoyed the summer weather in the wide open wilderness. No resorts, no buildings, no cars, no stoplights!
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Here my family and I are enjoying a back country adventure camping out for 4 days with the horses. These adventures taught me about the need for peaceful nature and working alongside a fellow animal toward achieving a common goal.
Karate
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Here I am at Karate completing my belt test to be promoted from yellow to orange, which is kind of a big deal, because I earned my black uniform. I trained with one of the sensei’s and my father outside, and I developed a love for martial arts. Studying martial arts helped me build my confidence and develop better communication skills.
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Here I am during Covid, training at my Karate studio, and I recorded videos to qualify for my next belt test. Through this practice, I achieved a positive introduction to creating visual media, which is an activity I will likely continue for many years.
Freshman Year
School Volleyball Team
Here’s a photo of my team and me, and this was the year that I was able to carry my team to many wins. My coach saw my persistence and skills, and promoted me to play on the JV team by the end of the year. This was a moment of success, since this was my long term goal for the year!
Soccer
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Here my friends and I are in 6th grade, playing on a team outside of school. Our team was composed of 8 of the 10 people who graduated with my 8th grade class. We all formed a team together, and we played arena soccer, which was a lot of fun! We had all been together since 1st or 2nd grade, so our teamwork was really successful. This taught me how creating positive synergy can create an environment where anything’s possible.
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I’ve always played team sports my whole life, and it’s something that I plan on continuing for the rest of my life. I’m a social being, and I enjoy being around other people and having fun! Here I am playing on my club team named “Express,” and I had a couple friends on the team, but I was able to make more friends and I’m still friends with some of these people today.
Sailing Team
I first learned to sail at a camp with my friends around Mission Bay in San Diego. Later, I got better at sailing at Gold Arrow Summer Camp in the Sierra National Forest in the mountains of California. This was one of the best camps I’ve ever been to, where I stayed in cabins and made a lot of new friends out in nature away from technology. I went to Gold Arrow Summer Camp for 4 years and made some great memories with the campers and counselors. Here I am sailing with my friend Jaden from elementary school. Our team was called the “Angry Red Planets,” and since the races were kind of long, it was a good opportunity to hang out, and that was the best part!
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This summer I went with a really fun crew of friends to Bass Lake, and even though it was really hot, the water was really refreshing. This is a trip that I’ll never forget, a shared memory between all of us. Even though we were all already very close, I think it made the bonds of our friendship even stronger.
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Here I’m wakesurfing at Bass Lake in central California and probably about to attempt a trick. Learning new tricks is a way I challenge myself and have fun at the same time.
Rock Climbing in Joshua Tree
On our family trip to Joshua Tree National Park, my sister, her best friend, and I spent the day offroading, spelunking, and rock climbing among the breathtaking desert cliffs. I’d actually written a satirical editorial years before about how spelunking was the worst thing ever—and, ironically, after trying it myself, I can confirm I was right! Tight, dark spaces are definitely not for me.
Still, that experience helped me face my fear of being stuck and reminded me how much I love being outdoors. The photos capture some of my favorite moments—posing in a natural alcove, reaching the top of a cliff with my sister, and standing triumphantly on a pile of sun-warmed boulders. Ever since I was little, I’ve had an endless love for scrambling up rocks, and Joshua Tree was the perfect place to reconnect with that fearless, adventurous part of myself.
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This photo was taken in my junior year, during beach volleyball season. In this photo, I’m playing for my school team with a good friend. Playing beach volleyball at school has brought me an immense amount of joy along with new friends and the beginning of one of my favorite out of school activities. To this day I play beach volleyball almost every week and I think this is a passion I will continue, throughout the rest of my life.
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This is a photo of me when I went on a jump while snowboarding with my friends. I had wanted to “full send” that jump for a while, but had trouble working up the courage. Finally I decided to go for it. I landed it, got on the chair lift and went again. This taught me that sometimes, although things may seem scary, you just have to go for it because you might end up enjoying it a lot.
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Here is a picture of myself passing the ball in an indoor volleyball game. This photo was taken while learning how to play as an experienced volleyball player can tell by the way I’m passing the ball. When I started getting better, volleyball became a daily passion for me and it all started from the team in this photo.