Driving to Success - Julie Shin
This story was originally published on The Sideline Post with the permission to re-publish on Bouncing Back.
I happen to own a driver. Not a person who drives me around, but a long metal club that hits small plastic balls. I’ve owned one since grade school and it’s stuck with me till now. Not only do I have a driver, but also 13 other metal sticks that also happen to wack a small plastic ball.
Ten years have passed since I’ve owned a set of golf clubs and I was able to push myself to the limits: competing in national events for the first time in 2018 and qualifying for even bigger national events in 2019. It was around this time when I realized why I loved golf. The competitive air flowed through my body so naturally and it became second nature to be in a tournament setting. Adrenaline would always set in on the first tee and sinking in putts would flush my blood with relief. The shyness that would surface in my first invitational after seeing many great players upon me later developed into happiness for seeing my new friends again the following year. The golf ladder had certainly been a climb but as I grew up, I realized that there were other things to think about other than shooting low.
Sophomore year of high school was when things started to get more serious. College was in the question now and I felt miserable for having no sense of direction. I tried to avoid the stress by not thinking about it, but it had to be faced eventually. Even with no clear future career path in mind, I loved to challenge myself. The challenge I was facing at the time was school work and I made sure to do the best I could. My early struggles of balancing school and golf began because of this and I became very stressed as an outcome. It wasn’t a matter of whether I would play golf in college or not; but rather, how much weight I put in golf over academics.
Nevertheless, I had a way to relieve my stress and it was practicing with my friends at my home course. I consider myself very lucky to have such a great group of people to surround myself with. My golf friends and I all struggled together and watched each other grow as athletes so I knew that they would be the ones to stay in the long run. Everyone played golf at a high level so having friendly competitions helped each other constantly improve. I would definitely contribute one of the reasons why I got to where I am now to this community because they made me want to play golf at a D1 college.
As mentioned before, I didn’t have any sense of direction for my future, so deciding that I definitely wanted to play golf in college took me a step closer to a future plan. However, not long after, COVID hit and everyone’s lifestyle completely shifted. Having to do online school made learning more difficult but I was able to go out and practice more. I didn’t think COVID would affect my sport that much since it took place outdoors; however, what I didn’t think about was how it would affect the recruitment process.
A lot of schools lost a lot of funding for their golf programs, even to the point where some golf teams had to be shut down. Other golfers had realized the situation and the recruitment process suddenly became much more competitive. I knew that if I wanted schools to reach me, I had to improve all aspects of my game and outshine my other competitors. The gears started to turn and I pressed down on the accelerator to success. From tournament to tournament, I could tell my skills were getting sharper. The time I would earn my first national win came close many times, but I wasn’t able to cap off my rounds well enough. I was hopping to many different states, competing as much as I could so I could show off my talents and impress as many coaches as possible. I earned my first offer in this time frame and my adrenaline was pumped. Knowing that a coach wanted me on their team drove me to better myself even more. This also signified that going to a D1 school was indeed possible for me.
After a long streak of hot golf, I was finally able to capture a national win. It was down in Georgia and I knew that it would mark a turning point. Subsequently, I was right. I had received multiple offers from many different schools, one of them being from the UPenn coach. After several months of communication with him, I knew that the school was a top contender for me. Not only did I love the city of Philly, but the team bonding I had observed was amazing. Throughout the recruiting process, my subconscious knew that I didn’t want to give up golf. I wanted to go to a school that would offer a great golf program and strong academics. A compelling hook was how the coach respected each player. After many years of trial and error, I had finally found a perfect practice routine that had helped me with maximizing focus and touching up weaknesses. He was able to understand that a lot of players have developed a comfortable way of practicing and he doesn’t push the players to practice a certain way. I was glad to hear this, especially with all the time I spent trying to perfect my own routine. I was able to meet a current freshman on the UPenn team in a small tournament event and we hit it off so well; so in addition to UPenn’s great attributes, I had a familiar face I could use as my mentor which was important to me.
After a final phone call with the UPenn coach, I decided where I wanted to continue my athletics and academics. I didn’t really have to think too hard because everything seemed to align my interests perfectly. At Penn, I am so excited to be able to compete with other athletes like me. To have a chance to qualify for the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship is a dream like no other. I would love to play golf, even after college if possible so I plan on keeping my golf abilities sharp throughout my undergraduate years. I hope to become the first female Penn golfer to qualify into the NCAA Championship and I can’t wait to meet new people along my journey to the top.
