When Todd Beamer senior, Dominic, was asked why he joined College Possible, his response was straight to the point:
“I want to be successful. I want a degree. I want something that no one can take away from me.”
The hard work Dominic has put in over the years has set him well on his way to achieving these goals as he heads to George Fox University to play football and study Kinesiology this fall.
Dominic admits he wasn’t always confident he would have the opportunity to go to college, let alone play football while doing so.
He shares that his journey was complicated from the start. He joined his high school football team late in his freshman year because he had been busy working to help his family financially. By the time he made it to practice, he was nervous that he couldn’t keep up with the others.
His anxiety was put to rest as he quickly accelerated and earned himself a spot on the team’s starting lineup. His success continued as he received multiple awards throughout his time at Todd Beamer for his athletic performance, including player of the year.
Despite these accomplishments and his dream of playing football in college, Dominic was starting to lose hope of receiving an offer.
This all changed when a coach from George Fox invited him to a training camp at the end of his junior year, where he was offered a chance to play for their team.
Dominic recalls the surreality of this moment, saying:
“I remember sitting in the car on the way home, like, wow. This is really happening. A college wants me.”
After that, new opportunities kept rolling in. Dominic entered his senior year with offers from Pacific Lutheran, Willamette, and Linfield University. When asked why he committed to George Fox, he shared that the strong relationships he built with the coaches throughout the year were most influential in his decision.
Dominic’s offer to play football for George Fox, however, was not a formal acceptance into the university, meaning he still needed to complete the application process and be accepted. As a result, he sought out the career center in his high school, where he was later connected with Katie, his Program Advising Specialist at College Possible.
Together, Katie and Dominic spent the past academic year working diligently together to ensure he completed everything he needed to apply, from writing personal statements to requesting letters of recommendation. In addition to his application, they also dedicated time to applying for scholarships — so far, Dominic has been awarded the foundry10 and Federal Way Rotary Club scholarship.
When asked what kind of support he received from his Program Advising Specialist, Katie, Dominic said:
“[Katie] is the kind of person you can go to for anything, and she graduated from college not too long ago, so she understands things. She can say things like, ‘This is what your workload is going to be like,’ or ‘This is how your schedule may look.’ You know, like a rundown of what’s going to happen in the future.”
He also elaborated on the impact he thinks College Possible is having at Todd Beamer overall:
“[College Possible] has a positive domino effect. If an underclassman sees me go to college and accomplish all of the things I wanted to, that I’ve been striving for the past four years, they might think, ‘Dang, if Dom can do it, let me figure this out too.’”
Dominic’s application to George Fox was accepted, and he will embark on the journey of becoming the first in his family to earn a college degree in just a few months. His ultimate goal is to use his degree in kinesiology to work for a football team as a strength and conditioning coach.
College Possible is so proud of Dominic for all of his hard work. We can’t wait to see what he accomplishes in his first year at George Fox University, both on the field and in the classroom.
