Vince D’Adamo: What did you enjoy most about competing in athletics throughout your life?
Austin Connolly: The greatest aspect of playing sports while growing up was the friendships I made and mentors I learned from. I began playing football at seven years old and continued to play every fall for the next 11 years up to winning the North Coast Section (Div. IV) championship my senior year of high school. I believe the relationships I created on the field with teammates and coaches had one of the greatest impacts on creating the person I am today but of course while growing up I didn’t view these relationships as such. They were simply my best friends who I could compete with in practice, and next to in the games. The bonds created while going through drills and conditioning are unlike any other relationships I have had outside of sports.
D’Adamo: What have you been doing since graduating from high school?
Connolly: After graduating from Justin-Siena I have attended the University of Redlands where I am currently in my senior year. I am majoring in Global Business with a minor in Mathematics and a focus on Chinese language.
In the spring of my senior year, my mother and I launched a patented plush toy where one squeezes the stomach called NightBuddies. Our first trade show was at the San Francisco Gift fair but since then we have attended tons of trade shows including the New York Toy Show, the largest toy trade show in the world. During my junior year, I designed the toys on adobe illustrator while conferring with the factory in Shenzhen, China for months until we had the opportunity to visit the manufacturing site. That day was where I knew I wanted to return to China to learn the language and culture.
During my sophomore year, I applied for and received a scholarship to fund a language intensive summer program as well as a petition to study abroad my entire junior year of college. As a result I left from San Francisco on June 10, 2015 and spent the next fourteen months in Beijing, China studying Mandarin Chinese. During the summer in 2015 I studied at the Duke in China language intensive program, then in the Fall and Spring I studied at Beijing Foreign languages university with IES study abroad program. In the spring, I received an opportunity to work part time in the Foreign Commercial Services at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China while intensively studying Chinese. Through my hard work, I was invited to continue working at the Embassy full time this past summer. My experiences abroad in China have shaped my life and the way I view the world immensely. The ability to be a student as well as work full time gave me a greater understanding of the culture, and language of China as well as business practices and international relations.
D’Adamo: What was your favorite class at Justin-Siena High?
Connolly: I will have to say any of the three classes I had with Mr. Carpenter, the math teacher. Prior to having him as a teacher, I thought mathematics was the most difficult subject in the world but the way he taught math changed my world. His teaching style of demanding attention from students, offering retakes during study time, and explanation of topics allowed the subject to click in my brain. My experiences in his class opened up opportunities to continue studying mathematics in college.
D’Adamo: What was your favorite athletic moment at Justin- Siena High?
Connolly: My athletic favorite moment at Justin-Siena was probably one of the worst plays I committed during my time on the field. It was late in the North Coast Section Championship game my senior year with the score still close. I was soaked from the rain and stood around our twenty yard line to return the punt from the opposing team.
After a great punt by the other team’s kicker that sent the ball into the air for what seemed like forever and I dropped the ball through my arms. The other team recovered it on our twenty or thirty yard line. It was such a great mistake to me at that moment that I was numb to what actually had just happened. I got up and the coaches pulled me in and don’t worry, just keep grinding at the rock. I went to the defensive huddle and my teammates looked at me and said we’ll get it back. The other team pushed us back to around the two yard line but we held them up to a fourth down. On this fourth down play, the running back came out to my side where I contained him and forced him inside into the pile. At some point he fumbled the ball and we recovered. My teammates held me up when I was at my lowest. That is what Justin-Siena football was about. The coaches of that team taught us more than just a sport. They taught us how to hold your friends up in a time of need. They taught us to shrug off a mistake and to keep working at your goal with relentless effort. They taught us to trust and to love.
D’Adamo: How much do you feel you have grown personally since graduating from high school and how much of that do you trace to athletics?
Connolly: Would it be crazy to say that I am a completely different person? Not in the way of opposite to my prior personality in high school but the way I view life and the world has either changed or become more permanent in my beliefs (not to say that nothing is up to change). My experiences in college and more recently in China has allowed me to mature into a person with a greater appreciation of the support and opportunities I have been given. I believe with a constant appreciation of what I have has allowed me to stay motivated to give the same support and opportunities to my own family one day.
Family, friends, and football is the foundation of who I am today. The habits I learned from football growing up has propelled me to where I am today. Some of the greatest lessons I have learned through football include a relentless work ethic, respect for all others, preparation is the key to success, learn from your mistakes, and to love “the game”. “The game” after high school football is now simply my life.
D’Adamo: Within your family, who have been the most influential people?
Connolly: I can’t choose just one person. Every person in my family both immediate and more distant has had an influence on me for the better.
My father has always shown me how to get ahead in life through hard work and respect. The line he has always told me is to be respectful and gentlemanly. My mother has shown me how to follow my dreams with passion and hard work. As an entrepreneur she has shown me a window into the business world. I have seen how much of a grind the entrepreneurial world is but through the lessons my mother has taught me I know it is a viable path in life.
My brother is the combination of my parents teachings in a younger, more relatable person. He has shown me a work ethic unparalleled to peers as well as a work life balance. During my sophomore year of college, I had the opportunity to watch him work part time at Matthew’s Real Estate firm while completing an accelerated MBA at Chapman University.
D’Adamo: Name a historical figure, dead or alive, in or out of sports you would most like to meet.
Connolly: Ralph Lauren. He’s taken so many risks, a true american icon who’s lived the American dream.
No comments:
Post a Comment