The cliche, “no pain, no gain,” is an oversimplified way of summarizing the winter quarter in my freshman year at Stanford. With 18 units of class, time in the gym almost every day, and plenty of golf to fill up my afternoons, free time is almost non-existent. At first glance, my schedule is a grind, to say the least. Time management, something that I’ve always prided myself on, is now a whole new ball game; operating on a day-to-day basis seemed to be the only way to tackle all this, starting out in early January, but I soon discovered that success was going to require a whole different level of commitment and planning. More than half-way finished, though, I can say that I’m in the best shape of my life, closer and closer to a performance breakthrough, and working as productively and efficiently as I ever have in school. The work is paying off tremendously, and I’m learning more about myself every day as a student, as an athlete, and as a person. Friends and family from home, over a recent long weekend, have commented on how much I’ve matured in just the last eight weeks. This, I’m learning, is why people come to Stanford. Students, alumni, and faculty alike, hold themselves to almost unrealistic expectations, and push until they get there. They harbor an unmatched level of motivation, constantly raising the bar for those around them. Just within the golf program, I’m fortunate to be surrounded by some of the best players, best coaches, and hardest working student-athletes in the country; with a little over three months left until finals in June, I can’t wait to see where I am after just one year at Stanford.
