Jay Wilkinson

Sports has been a huge part of my life since I was 6 years old. I have been swimming since 6 and diving since I was 10. It is also a huge part of my social life. I have made some great friends, learned some good life lessons from my coaches, all from being an athlete. I would like to continue that in college. It gives me a purpose to work for a goal that I set for myself and I enjoy the joy of success( who doesn't).
I would say, life would be boring without sports, at least for me.

As one of the team captains, I try to set a good example to the younger divers in my team by showing them the importance of trying again and never giving up. My team has a lot of younger divers who are terrified of smacks. Sometimes when a diver is struggling with a dive due to fear or lack of confidence, I try to talk to them to give them confidence that they can do it. Sometimes, when I smack while learning a new dive, I use that as an example to tell them that even advanced divers smack and it hurts for a few seconds and we get back on the board and try again. I think that helps the younger divers as they look up to us, the older and advanced divers. I can say, I try to set a good example by showing that discipline and focus is important as an athlete and I do this by showing them this character during practice.

I was taught to eat right at the right time and fuel my body the right way before and after training/ meets.
My father is a Chiropractor and he teaches me how the body mechanics work. He has taught me the importance of stretching and how to cope with injury by getting the right care.

I am the founder of the Somers Tech Teens, it is a group of high school students who help the senior citizens in our community with the tech problems. I got the idea from helping my grandmother with her tech issues and felt that the seniors could benefit from the tech knowledge teens have. We collaborated with our local library to provide this service to help the seniors. During the pandemic, a lot of seniors citizens had to rely on zoom calls and tech platforms to stay connected with their friends and family. But a lot of them were struggling with it. We conduct weekly webinars to teach them and help them with their tech issues. It was well received and we helped a lot of our senior citizens learn how to use their electronic gadgets. I hope to continue this community services in person soon.
This is the link to my tech support website:
www.sitenotes.wixsite.com/techteens