Sun Prairie East · Class of 2027 · Wisconsin
State champion. 3.9 GPA. First in my family headed to college, aiming for biochemistry and medicine.
About
I'm a senior at Sun Prairie East High School in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, about 25 minutes from Madison. I use a wheelchair, and I throw a shot put for a living, or at least it feels that way some weeks. I used to think sports weren't possible for me. Adaptive sports proved me wrong.
I'm the first person in my family to go to college. That means I'm building the playbook as I go: figuring out financial aid, applications and what a "good" path even looks like, mostly by asking questions until someone gives me a straight answer.
I want to study biochemistry and go on to medicine, because [one honest sentence about why: a moment, a person, a question you can't stop thinking about].
Athletics
In my first season of wheelchair shot put, I went from under 23 feet to a state title at 28 feet 8.5 inches. Shot put is one explosive second built on thousands of boring repetitions, and that's the part I like best.
My first high school sport.
Earned a varsity spot in pole vault while also competing in the throws.
Joined the swim team and earned a varsity spot on the boys' team in my first year.
I broke my femur in 2020, again in 2022, and a third time in 2025, right before track season. A bone cyst in my femur is why it kept breaking. [What recovery looked like, and what it taught you]
I found out about adaptive sports in 2025, after that break, at a time when I thought I couldn't take part in any sport. A former wheelchair track and field teammate introduced me to adaptive sports, including wheelchair track and field and wheelchair basketball.
My first year of wheelchair track and field, and my opening throws were under 23 feet.
My distance climbed for three reasons: better technique, more strength, and real commitment to showing up and putting in the work. My coaches and teammates helped me get there too, by coaching me and pushing me. [Specifics: what you trained, what you changed in your form, and your coaches' names if you want to credit them]
Won the Wisconsin state title and set the all-time Wisconsin state record in wheelchair shot put with a personal-best 28 feet 8.5 inches, more than 5½ feet farther than where I started.
Joined wheelchair basketball, returning for another wheelchair track and field season, and considering swimming again. [Goal for this season: a target distance, regionals/nationals]
My gains came from all three. Strength without good angle and timing wastes power, and clean technique with nothing behind it has little to release. Commitment is what ties them together: showing up and doing the reps even when it's slow. I learned to fix the small thing, not just push harder.
I log throws, notice patterns and change one variable at a time. It's a lab notebook with a 4 kg ball. [Add a specific example]
The scoreboard matters, but the real opponent is last month's version of me.
Academics
I'll graduate with eight AP courses, and I kept math and science heavy through senior year rather than coasting. I'm most at home where biology, chemistry and calculus meet, which is why I took AP Chemistry, AP Biology and both AP Calculus AB and BC.
Science & medicine
Grades show I can do the work. This section shows what I do when nobody's grading me.
[A small investigation you ran or want to run. Example: how release angle affects shot put distance, with data and a chart.]
[Hospital, clinic, or a physician you've shadowed. Being a patient's-eye-view future doctor is a real perspective; say what you've seen.]
[Something that changed how you think. One sentence on what and why.]
Community & leadership
I took part in the HOPE program. [What it was and what you took from it, in a sentence or two] I want to be a mentor for the next student who's the first in their family to try.
[What you do now: mentoring, tutoring, speaking, adaptive sports outreach, helping other athletes get started. Give one concrete number or story.]
What's next
Whether you're an admissions reader, a mentor, a coach or a future employer, I'd love to hear from you.