TJ Spidle
My name is TJ Spidle – I graduated from Mountain Crest High School in June of 2009. I have lived in Cache Valley my entire life. I am oldest of three children and my parents are Tom and Joni Spidle. I have been very active and an athlete my entire life starting with soccer, baseball and football around the age of 6. I started playing basketball when I was 8 and added golf a few years later. This year I even tried Lacrosse. My dream, like most young boys was to grow up and be a professional athlete, you know, play football for the NFL or basketball in the NBA. Fishing with my dad is still one of my favorite activities.
I was diagnosed with MS just a couple months after I turned sixteen during my sophomore year. We were right in the middle of High School basketball season. My defining symptom was that my face was numb. I had a similar numbness in my face when I was in seventh grade, but I had been hit in the face really hard with a basketball and the doctors really didn’t think much of it. I had braces on my teeth then so they were unable to do an MRI so they treated it like Bell’s Palsy with a dose of steroids and we never thought about it again until now. Talk about a defining moment in your life – I knew absolutely nothing about MS until then. Now MRI’s, injections and symptoms have become an ordinary part of my life. I am very fortunate as I have had very few symptoms and I am still able to play the sports I love. I did give up football after my Sophomore year and instead, played on my High School Varsity Golf Team and continued to play on the Varsity basketball team as well. I am proud to be an example to other individuals that have health issues – you have to try to live your life to the fullest. I am thankful for the continued research that is being done and I, like everyone else, hope some day for a cure.
I am planning on attending the Golf Academy of America in Carlsbad California in September 2009. I will be studying for an Associates Degree in Business and Golf Course Operations. My goal is to eventually work through the PGA PGM Program and be a PGA Head Professional at a golf course. Thank you for choosing me as a scholarship recipient.