Personal Statement

Thomas Gore

“Tenacious” is my favorite word anyone has ever used to describe me. I agree wholeheartedly with this diagnosis; I have never been one to back down from a fight for something I wanted. Throughout my academic and athletic careers, I have never had a problem working harder than anyone else to achieve my goals.

When I was five years old I started playing tennis with my dad. He had taught himself by watching Boris Becker on TV, and thought that second-hand Boris Becker instruction would work for me as well. We never were able to be one of those tennis families that paid for several lessons a week like the elite junior players of the day. We went out to the tennis courts quite literally every day that it was not physically impossible from the time I was 6 to when I graduated high school. When I say every day, I mean that if there was a chance that it would rain later on in the day, Dad and I were to be seen at the school courts at 6:30 in the morning. Being that I am not as physically gifted an athlete as most of the top tennis players, I have had to make up for that deficiency by hard work, smart strategy, and mental focus. The work paid off when I won many singles and doubles tournaments on the state and regional level, as well as when my high school won 4 state championships during my time there, with two of them coming while I was team captain. Everyone always wondered (aloud, often in front of me) how I managed to stay on the court with people that looked like they should stomp me. I always just smiled, but knew the real reason.

My tenacity was not only evident in my athletic endeavours. From elementary school up through high school, I had always enjoyed language and its wide applications; my favorite courses were in literature and foreign language. I had (and still have) a great passion for languages. French was a special strength for me, partly because of my own natural proclivity for language and partly because of my teacher. She was fluent in six different languages and so obviously passionate about her work that her passion spilled over on the motivated students. Even though she was not the Honors French teacher, she encouraged me to go ahead and take the National French Exam starting my freshman year. Because the entire Honors class was scheduled to take the test, they had two weeks of nonstop preparation, including a plethora of old tests and listening exercises. The regular class had no such advantage. However, I was so motivated to do well that I studied on my own time. The effort paid off, as I scored in the top 10 in the nation every year, including a perfect score my junior year. The Honors French class had no one in the top 20 at any point. This personal triumph led me to believe more in myself and my ability to overcome academic obstacles. Indeed, I went on to