Guy Fernandes '15 Recruiting Profile

My collegiate goals are to be successful in the career path I chose to take, succeed in college swimming by continuously getting faster and working harder, and just enjoy my time in college with people and teammates that I know will become great lifetime friends. 
After all, college prepares young adults for the real world and is mostly an academic journey. That is how I view every school. I am there to succeed academically, however, I will also put myself under the responsibility of thriving in the pool because it is something I decide to do. It’s more stress, time consuming, and hard work . . . and I absolutely love it.
I am at practice in the mornings and afternoons every single day. I don’t miss a practice because I know my competition is out there training to beat me, so I must do the same. Every practice I miss, I fall behind. I am a very dedicated athlete and attendance is crucial to me. Every time there is practice, I will be there with a positive attitude no matter what is happening in the other realms of my life because negative attitudes are contagious. I know from experience. Just because I failed a test or had a bad day doesn’t give me the right to bring my teammates down and ruin a practice for them. That is a principle I sincerely believe and foster myself.
Now to better understand me as a person, my character and personality must come into play. Despite my hardworking demeanor and dedication to a sport I love, I am not a naturally serious person who just shows up to practice, swims, and then leaves. I have always been the “team clown” in every team I’ve been in. Just always cracking jokes, making my teammates laugh, lifting the mood, and sociably messing with my coaches and teammates. I just love being “that guy.” The person everyone likes to be around because I’m friendly and make practice as enjoyable as possible. Yes, I am a clown and many of my teammates would say a “weird yet necessary, funny person to have around.” However, I manage to retain my humorous personality and show up to every practice in order to work hard. When it’s time to put in work, I will put in the work and even push teammates to work harder.
As far as academics go, I am in an academically rigorous school and placed within the magnet program. Therefore our curriculum is already very challenging by just attending MAST Academy. Yet I further challenge myself by taking all AP, dual enrollment, and honors classes. It does get overwhelming very quickly, especially when balancing it with my training schedule, but I just take a deep breath and continue working because I know it will pay off in the long run. Plus these classes will better prepare me for college, which is another challenge I can’t wait to tackle.
One last aspect that really aspires to who I am is my community service project, Flying High for Haiti. This non-profit organization was started by best friend (Michael Adams), his mother, and myself. We spend the entire year organizing fundraisers and collecting money, clothes, donations, and hygienic supplies. Then we concentrate all our efforts into one mission trip during all of spring break every year. All my spring breaks during high school have been spent on mission trips in Haiti. We take specialists with us such as doctors, carpenters, and electricians. All our efforts have been put into amazing use, especially when I see the tremendous change we have made in peoples lives year after year. This project has made me a strong candidate for the prestigious “Silver Knight” award. This award recognizes students with excellence in athletics and community service participation. These mission trips have taught me more than I could imagine and completely changed my outlook on the world. I am very grateful for my stunning and unique experiences. This organization and aspect of my life means so much to me and I wouldn’t have include this in my personal statement if it didn’t. Community service is also a huge collegiate aspiration I plan to pursue. It has definitely affected my character in a positive manner and I wouldn’t be “Guy” without it. 
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Thank you.