Meet Julia Sawin, our 2023 Carol Phan Memorial College Scholarship Winner!
Welcome to the “scholarship family”. 🙂
Julia will be attending San Diego State University majoring in Aerospace Engineering, AND, will be a featured twirler with the Marching Aztecs there.
Her passion. 🙂
Congratulations on your winning submission (see below) and we wish you the best of luck in college.
We are looking foward to getting your first semester update this coming Christmas. 🙂
Julia’s video and explanation…..
Imagine a sport with the eye-hand coordination of a basketball player, the gracefulness of a figure skater, and the skill of a gymnast. Baton Twirling has been my greatest passion for the past 14 years. I have grown from the toddler that struts in local parades to the World Baton Twirling Federations Silver Medalist as a member of Team USA. It has also been an honor being Tracy High School’s first feature twirler. As someone who loves to perform and put on a show; choreographing my performances for football and basketball games as well as rallies has become one of my most treasured high school memories. Baton is my creative outlet where I can push my bounds and express myself and my love for my unique sport. I have both succeeded and failed, caught or dropped, won or lost, however no matter the outcome I have loved every single moment.
Baton has continuously prepared me for every step I’ve taken in my life. The years of weekends spent driving up to Sacramento for 8-hour days of practicing and drilling with my teammates, has taught me how to be a team player, a leader, and most importantly a friend. I am the oldest of three girls and both of my sisters twirl competitively as well. Baton twirling is something special my sisters and I share. We go to practices together, celebrate each other’s successes with ice cream, and are the first ones to cheer for one another when we need it most. I have become a better sister because of baton twirling. The frustrations of a new skill and hundreds of tries
to get it right have only taught me to never give up, that hard work pays off, and repetition is key. I implemented this lesson in my academics as I put 110% into every single one of my assignments and never presented my teachers with anything but my best work. Some of my favorite memories come from traveling the world with my best friends alongside Team USA as one of our sport’s top competitors. I’ve become a role model and an ambassador to little twirlers all over the nation. I enjoy meeting new people and becoming friends with twirlers from different countries and cultures, demonstrating comradery and strong U.S spirit. I’ve now followed into the footsteps of my grandmother and mother and taken on the role of a teacher to share my passion of baton twirling with our youth. Through the Boys and Girls Club I teach a baton class every week to underprivileged children who otherwise don’t have the money or the support to participate in extracurriculars. It is so rewarding to see their faces light up with excitement when they finally get down a new trick or skill.
I am so grateful for every opportunity baton twirling has given me. It has taught a little girl to dream big and that no goal is ever too far out of reach. Baton twirling has shaped me into the person I am today, and I can’t wait to carry on the many life lessons it has taught me into this next chapter of my life!
Drive Safe! Never Forget.
Our other scholarship winners….
ForCarol: Drive Safe! Never Forget 