Life-Changing Scholarship

For me, winning the Vaughn Bigelow, Jr. scholarship has been life-changing. I always knew that I wanted to play varsity water polo in college. Still, most people didn’t think I had much of a chance, so I was losing my confidence and looking at club teams. Then the varsity water polo coach from Washington and Jefferson College reached out to me, and hope floated again. My ultimate goal is to become a prosecutor, and W&J has a respected pre-law program along with a varsity water polo program. I was committed to W&J when I learned I was selected as the first recipient of the Bigelow scholarship. I was honored to be chosen. I made a commitment to live my life the best I could, in a way that would always bring credit to Vaughn’s memory.

At W&J, I threw myself into my studies, practiced hard and got a job working as a lifeguard at the college pool. There were 10 freshmen recruits on the water polo team, so I was happily surprised when I started in the first tournament. I continued to start for the rest of the season, and although our team didn’t have a lot of wins, we grew as a team, and I had many personal bests. I call myself the happiest player ever on a team with a losing record! 

I worked incredibly hard in my classes and made the Dean’s List with a 4.0 GPA Fall Semester. I qualified for the 2019 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches’ Outstanding Men’s All-Academic Award. I credit these successes to my pledge to be the best that I can be in tribute to Vaughn. With inspiration from Vaughn, I hope to continue to achieve my dreams.

My advice to young people is to find your passion and then pursue it, with all your best efforts, and you will succeed.

Written by Ryan Bannon