WHY YOU SHOULD GO TO COLLEGE IN AMERICA, WHAT I LEARNT, AND HOW I STAYED MOTIVATED
In 2011, at the age of 16, I started thinking about options for pursuing my education after high school. Back then, only a handful of people were applying (and getting into) an athletic programme in a university in the US. Being 16 and not one who was very confident in my golfing ability yet, I thought I would write to a couple of coaches just for the fun of it, not really thinking that I would get any sort of reply, let alone a scholarship. Going to the US was more of a pipe dream.
So I wrote some resumes, a cover letter and recorded a YouTube video. Recording a video wasn’t really a requirement, but since I had never stepped foot in America, the first thought that came to my mind was why would somebody recruit someone thousands of miles away when they have never actually seen them swing a golf club? So I recorded, I wrote, and I sent.
Ding. A couple days later and to my surprise, response emails from coaches started rolling in. One in particular was very enthusiastic and started asking me question after question. After a couple of emails, she asked if we could schedule a time for a phone call and she offered me a verbal letter of intent to go to Boise State University on a full ride. This coach was Nicole Bird and she changed my life forever by giving me this opportunity.
Last day of team workouts (sophomore year)
In 2017, I graduated with not only a degree in hand but also with so much more that money can’t buy.
So, what did I learn from my four years as a student-athlete in the States?
I learnt what it meant to play for something other than yourself. I think it’s safe to say that the Asian culture and the American culture are drastically different. Although it might just be me and my competitive nature, growing up, I always played golf for myself. Even when representing the country, golf is still a very individualistic game. Although the score I shoot might contribute to a team’s win, I was still more focused on an individual win.
Celebrating our first day back to campus (junior year)
This changed when I went to college. I quickly learnt that the success of our programme does not only depend on myself and my performance, but it also depended on the success of our entire team. The better we performed, the more support and recognition our programme would get. Feeling like a drop in an ocean in America, I did not really know how I could help my team get better. All I knew was that being in America, for me, was a privilege. With this, I was going to spend my days working on improving myself … all with one goal in mind – to turn professional after college.
My first ever NCAA college tournament rolled around. I ended up finishing the tournament in a tie for second place. I was very happy with this result as I had put a lot of pressure on myself before this tournament. I wanted to prove to my coach and my university golf programme that I belonged and that it was worth recruiting me, all the way from Malaysia. After this tournament, being a freshman and still being shy in this brand new environment that I was in, I soon learnt how I was going to help my team be the best that they could be.
Knowing that I was not the most outspoken leader, I learnt that I could lead by example. Every day, for the rest of the four years, I was the first to practice and the last to leave. I put in additional hours after hours, even when nobody was around to watch me. I played holes after holes all by myself whenever I could. I learnt that if I was going to help my programme, the best way for me to do so was to perform, and if I performed, the rest of the team was going to be motivated to do the same. Although I still focused on improving myself, I had the team and the programme at the back of my mind.
I learnt about teamwork; teamwork also taught me about discipline, about drive and about consistency. It helped me get through college in a foreign land, alone, and it helped me graduate with highest honours. It has and will help me every single day for the rest of my life.
Now as a professional golfer, I hope to inspire up-and-coming golfers by doing the same by showing them the opportunities that golf can give you, the places that it will bring you and that golf is not an old man’s sport. It can change your life and it is worth pursuing. I tell every junior golfer, if you get the opportunity, work for that scholarship and get on an athletic programme. It will truly change your life.
But never forget, whether it affects you positively or negatively is entirely up to you. Every experience that you have, your actions will determine the outcome, so please go to college with your dreams in mind – whatever that may be.
Team roster photo (senior year)
