As a 13-years-old girl, I sat in
my living room intensely watching the 1999 NCAA Men's Basketball
Tournament Sweet Sixteen game between Gonzaga University and the
University of Florida. Casey Calvary tips in the missed runner shot
by Quentin Hall for the game winner sending the men's basketball team
to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. At that
moment, I fell in love with Gonzaga basketball, the university, and
the commitment of excellence that is taught to each person who walks
onto the campus in Spokane, WA.
Sports became a part of my
lifestyle as a young girl. The main sport in my life is basketball.
My mom witnessed me coaching my imaginary basketball team on the
driveway as I ran through drills, plays and scrimmages. As the years
went by, my passion for basketball just grew to the point that I got
involved as a player, referee, stats manager, and coach. My coaching
experience came in the summers of 2005 and 2006 when I traveled to
Billings, Montana to coach with Northwest Basketball Camps. I led
one team to a camp championship, but the most important things I
gained from these two summers were valuable coaching tips, players
building confidence within themselves and lifelong friendships.
I am privileged to grow up in
the family business called D-Mac Construction. As a little girl, my
father would assign me tasks within the company. I started with
picking up nails on job sites to typing all of his bids for clients
and balancing out his business accounts. To this day, I continue to
work in the family business as often as I can to help support my
family for all they have done for me. Through this experience, I
have learned responsibility, commitment and customer service. With
these qualities, I will be able to inspire athletes to have a strong
work ethic through basketball.
My life journey threw me a
fastball when I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome in 2007 during
my senior year in college. Asperger's Syndrome is an autism spectrum
disorder that is defined by evidential difficulties in social
interaction, along with limited and repetitive patterns of behavior
and interests. Does knowing that I have this disability give me a
fear of not being a good basketball coach or the fear of not having
the ability to interact with players? Yes it truly does, but I have
learned to overcome my fear by making the Eastern Washington
University Dean's List, completing my Bachelor's degree, being more
social with other people and acquiring the tools to relate to them in
a whole new way.
While
attending Eastern Washington University, I took an interviewing class
to prepare me for job interviews after I graduated. My professor
gave the assignment to go out and interview a person who has a
profession we would like to do as a career. It wasn't a surprise to
anyone that I decided to interview Gonzaga's head women's basketball
coach, Kelly Graves. I sat in his office and did a 45 minute
interview learning all about his life, family, and coaching tips. It
was after that interview my family and I became Gonzaga women's
basketball season ticket holders and have been ever since. As a
season ticket holder, I have gained relationships with the coaching
staff, players and other fans. The atmosphere in the McCarthy
Athletic Center at every home game has the feeling of a family and
that inspires me to follow my dreams of becoming a college basketball
coach.
In April of 2011, I made a
choice to turn my life around. I moved into Anna Ogden Hall, the
women and children's recovery program through the Union Gospel
Mission in Spokane. Upon moving in, one of the counselor's asked me,
“Trinity, what is the one thing that you have in common with all of
women in the house?” My answer was, “I don't know.” Her
response was, “You have been hurt.” That is so true. Like any
human being, I have been hurt by family members, friends, and others
from my past. Now I have been here 10 months and have learned social
skills, received healing and most importantly found the strength and
confidence to be who I want to be and go after my hopes and dreams.
In closing, Eastern Washington
University gave me an outstanding education for my Bachelor Degree,
but I believe that Gonzaga University's Sports and Athletic
Administration Master's Program will give me the finer education that
leads me in the direction of my dreams to coach basketball. I hope
to make an important difference in society on the sports spectrum;
Gonzaga University will provide me that opportunity.
Thank you very much for your
time.
I hope you enjoyed reading that. I had tons of help writing this which I am extremely thankful for. This was a dream come to to be accepted into this program. It I can go after my dreams so can you. God put those dreams in our hearts for a reason.
T~Money
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