In my experience, the most important lessons are taught in the places you least expect them, whether that’s outside a tent near the Sangre de Cristo Mountains or on a baseball field just outside Barahona, Dominican Republic.

Even the mat room, for instance, is a classroom of its own. I learned a great deal, for one, from the sheer physicality of wrestling: the importance of technique in hand-to-hand combat; the effect of nutrition and training on strength and conditioning; the unexpected flexibility of the human body. But far more essential was the mental aspect-- the more profound questions the sport forced me to reckon with. How do I balance being a captain and a teammate, a leader and a friend? How can I use power to help others? How should I treat my teammates and my opponents? How should I treat the people I care about? How much am I willing to sacrifice for them? How much am I willing to sacrifice to reach my own goals? What are my own goals? What is it, exactly, that I’m even fighting for on the mat? What is it that I’m fighting for in my life?

I’m excited to continue exploring the answers to these and other fundamental questions at UT. I can’t wait to learn as much as I can about as much as I can.

Majors
Business Honors; Plan II Honors

Honors Programs
Canfield Business Honors Program; Plan II Honors

Other Academic Interests
Latin American Studies

What drew you to the Forty Acres Scholars Program?
Finalist Weekend left a huge impression on me. I was blown away by both the scholars I’d met as well as by my fellow finalists. They were all obviously very smart people, but they also struck me as quite genuine and caring. It was through that experience that I came to understand the meaning of Community and Connection within the context of FASP, which provides a diverse and emotionally tight-knit group on the campus of one of the biggest universities in the country. But it was the final pillar of the Forty Acres Scholars Program that drew me toward it in the first place: Discovery. The program offers countless opportunities for academic enrichment, personal development, and visceral experiences. I plan to put those resources to good use; after all, what starts here changes the world. I feel very honored to have been chosen to be part of such an awesome family.