Don’t ever settle

Ladies and gentlemen, when I was young I wanted to become a Nascar driver, astronaut, and a game warden. I went into high school thinking I was going to have to be a full time mechanic at my family business. I knew when I was about 11 years old that I did not want to do that, but it was always a plan b for me.

There was one time that my grandfather asked me to weld up a pipe on my racecar so he showed me the process and let me do it. I got my welding helmet adjusted it to my head and went to work. I welded it and didn’t do too bad but I knew at that point I wanted to become a welder and I wanted that to be my full time career. I told my parents and grandparents and started researching welding and talking to as many people as I possibly could. Last year I really pushed to try to be able to have a job out of high school. I knew that I wasn’t going to want to go to college. When I became a senior I had two offers already to be a welder; one of them was Cianbro, which  would mean I would have to travel America. That was not going to be for me, but I had another job offer and that one being B.I.W (Bath Iron Works)—and that’s what I wanted to do. I would have full benefits with starting pay being 17 dollars an hour. I never settled; I knew that I did not want to work at my family business the rest of my life not making much. Deciding I was not going to help my family was hard, but they understood.

I started racing when I was 11 years old, racing whiz kidz at Beech Ridge motor speedway. I built my own race car from an old Cavalier. I was very proud of what I was able to accomplish, and  with very little help I raced my first race and ended up finishing 3rd. I felt like I was a local star like Mike Rowe, or even Nascar star Jeff Gordon. I raced that series for 2 years and had 7 top 5s and 3 second place finishes, but never a win. My grandfather was sick and had heart problems and had to stop racing in the street stock division. He wanted to put me in the car; my dad was not happy and thought he was crazy, but my grandfather believed in me. I went out there and raced and end up 6th in a car that now goes 85 mph rather than the 45 mph in the whiz kidz series. I was very happy and proud. I went on that year and ended up with 8 top 10s, 3 top 5s, and a career record 2nd place finish. We went to Oxford the following two years and ended up with several consecutive top 10’s, and 5’s, and 3 top 3 finishes. In 2016 we went back to Wiscasset speedway, and I ended up getting my first win. This followed by another win a few months later helped me finished out the season with a 3rd in points. 2018 was the year that has defined my career so far. I ended up with 4 wins, 3 consecutive, and led the whole series most the year until losing the championship by just a few points. This year has already had a good start; I won opening day race and have an offer to driver in a bigger division to further my career.  I have crashed before, and I have yelled, and wanted to quit several times but I never did. I never settled for what I had, I always want more.

The point of this speech is that in life, sports, or just college, never settle for good try and make yourself go the extra mile. Be great and then go beyond that. My grandfather is the reason that I have a fire under me that I won’t ever let go out. He has believed in me, in work, and in racing when no one else did. He has a serious heart condition and is lucky to have 3 months and I am going to do everything in my power so that he can see me become successful not only in school but in life. Thank you.              

Photo on Foter.com