My Collegiate Golf Journey
Growing up, I was always involved in sports. From a young age, I was running around chasing a soccer ball, or teeing off on the golf course. When I got to high school I started to take sports more seriously. I wanted to play a sport in college. Sophomore year was around the time that I had decided to make it a goal to get an athletic scholarship to a university. I wanted to keep playing, and I wanted to go to school out of state. My best bet at this was trying to get a golf scholarship. I worked incredibly hard to get my game to the best that it had ever been. I started contacting coaches at the conclusion of my junior year. I wasn't sure which division I wanted to go into (NCAA has Division I, II, and III). Ultimately, I decided against DI and started researching DII colleges. I am very academically driven and saw that DII offered a good balance between school and athletics. I highly recommend this division to anyone who has similar interests as me. It provides great competition but also prepares you for life after college athletics.
I ended up deciding on the University of Tampa. I loved the school, loved the programs that they offered and loved my coach! For three years, this place was my home and I'm so glad I decided to go to school in Florida. It was a big move since I had lived in Arizona my whole life, but I wanted to get the college experience. That first year was a huge learning curve. I definitely struggled both on the course and in the classroom. My entire life plan had been uprooted and I was struggling to find my footing. I changed my major my freshman year to criminology. Best choice ever. I loved the major, loved my classes, and fell in love with the game again. I knew that I was going down the right path, and it felt easy (but the classes were still tough!). I came into college with 20 credit hours of AP classes (thank god for AP history!). With the help of my advisor I found out that I was going to be able to graduate in three years. I knew I wanted a master's degree and I knew that I had 4 years of eligibility so I jumped at the chance.
Three years passed by so fast! I was overloading on classes and trying to boost my GPA. Even though my school was a private school, between my golf scholarship and the academic aid package I received, I was paying what I would have at a state school. I met so many people from all over the country and really got to know myself better. I virtually had a blank slate going into college and I gained confidence in myself. My golf game continued to improve and I started to pour more and more hours into practice. I was selected as the team captain my sophomore year and it was a great honor. It's amazing when other people recognize that you put in so much hard work and that it really does pay off.
Walking across the stage to receive my undergraduate degree was incredible. All the hard work, sweat, tears that went into that degree... I had finally made it! I also had a plan for after graduation. So you get 4 years of athletic eligibility. I had only used 3, so there's a rule that you can play for another institution or the same one for the last year of your eligibility. Many times people who graduate early or those that redshirted will be able to use this last year of eligibility. I used it because I wanted to get my master's degree. I emailed coaches, and virtually started my recruiting process all over again. I was looking for a 2 year master's program because I wanted to play golf 1 more year and then be the graduate assistant for the same golf team. I found Regis University and it seemed to fit exactly what I needed. If you all didn't know, graduate assistants are similar to assistant coaches. Basically, you're helping out the coach for the duration of the year and you get a living stipend/school scholarship. All of the stipends/scholarships differ so if you're looking into this, be sure to find out how much you will receive because in certain situations, it won't cover the cost of college.
This worked out really well for me. I got to play one more year of collegiate golf which was great! We had an amazing season and won our conference championship. I won my first individual title for a golf tournament in college and got to play my last tournament in Arizona in front of my entire family! I couldn't have picked out a better way to end my college career. This year I have taken on the role of the assistant coach/graduate assistant. I am loving it. I love that I can still be involved in the sport that I love. I also love that I can provide mentoring towards the girls who are still navigating it, and that I can get my master's degree virtually paid for. Like I've said before, my situation was unique. I had a lot of doors open for me, and I'm so fortunate.
However, I would suggest for anyone going into collegiate athletics, if you want to get an advanced degree paid for by an institution, try to graduate early! Not only will this save you an entire year of tuition but will get you close to paying for your entire graduate degree! Now, don't rush through college (enjoy it!), but that is just my story in how I used it to my advantage. I had to figure all of this out by myself, and I'm sure I could have done it a little better if I had had someone giving me advice on what they did! If you're debating on whether or not to try and play collegiate sports, why not give it a try?
Also, if you ever have any questions on the recruitment process, please reach out to me! I did it twice, and I definitely know some tricks!
Comments
Post a Comment