When I first walked into the doors of Westborough High School, I never even fathomed the profound impact it would have on me, and who I became over the past four years. As I look back on my journey, I always seem to wonder what my high school career would look like if I could change a few things. I could write on and on about all my bad habits in school: not studying enough, forgetting a few homework assignments (whoops), or even mind-wandering through a lecture. However, if there was any way to time travel back to talk with freshman year Brady Chapman, I would immediately say to never procrastinate, which I even did plenty of on this assignment. 

High school is an extremely stressful environment at times. Some weeks, you may have over five tests to study for, and others you may be worrying about a presentation to give. On top of that, some may have to juggle their school work with extracurriculars. Growing up, I’ve always been hard on myself in everything I do. Whether it is sports, school, or anything else, my biggest enemy seems to be staring right back at me through a mirror. Because of this, I found myself piling up unnecessary stress and anxiety over every bit of my life. This mindset I found myself running back to, constantly turned challenges into self-imposed mountains that I felt I had to climb alone. Looking back, that mindset feels pretty ridiculous. I was treating every mistake like it was the end of the world, as if one bad game or one missed assignment defined who I was. It took me way too long to realize that perfection isn’t the goal — growth is. Beating myself up never made me better; it only made me more anxious. The truth is, nobody’s keeping score as closely as we think they are.  

Throughout not only my WHS career, but also some of my earliest memories, I have found myself on some sort of sports team. Baseball, Basketball, and Football are easily the biggest parts of my life, but they’ve also taught me lessons that go far beyond the scoreboard. I’ve always been told what a privilege it is to be a part of something as important as a varsity sports team, but it never set in until my final season of baseball started. It’s hard to think that of all the students in Westborough, I was lucky enough to be selected to be a part of each team, and consider myself to be among the best players in the entire town. 

To be selected for Coach Willar’s varsity basketball team should never be something to brush over. I can remember some of the toughest practices of my sports career coming from Fisher Gym at 7 pm. They weren’t just physically exhausting — they we mentally demanding. Every drill, sprint, and every mistake was an opportunity to either fold under pressure or rise from it. Some of my favorite sports memories come from within those Fisher Gym walls. Whether it was our playoff win against East Longmeadow or our opening night against Fitchburg, my junior year, every second I was out on that floor, I had as much fun as you can imagine, and then some. However, I can confidently say that I couldn’t get to where I was in my basketball career without the help of my senior teammates: Alex Carpenter, Justin McCafferty, Alec DesRosiers, Andrew Pisciotta, Jack Peterson, and Dylan Fischer. And to Coach Willar, Coach Callinan, Coach Nate, Coach Simenaou, and Coach Ethan, you guys have taught me everything there is to know about basketball, but also the importance of understanding the life lessons that come from the game. 

From T-Ball to now, baseball has been a massive part of my life, and something I’m passionate about. One thing that always confused me was how an elite hitter in baseball can fail seven out of ten times, but that quickly changed once I made it to varsity baseball. It’s been said that hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports, which is certainly the truth. Still, despite the challenge, playing baseball at WHS brought me some of the best memories. From walk-off wins to dugout jokes that had us laughing for minutes, those spring days were about more than just stats. They were about the bond we shared as a team. I’ll never forget the bus rides, battling the blinding sun out in center field, or stepping up to the plate in a big situation. Baseball gave me a chance to compete, but it also gave me a reason to smile every time I played. It reminded me that even in a game built around failure, there’s so much success beyond a record. My memories throughout baseball couldn’t be considered ones without the help of my entire team, but especially my Senior teammates: Justin McCafferty, Andrew Pisciotta, and Dylan Fischer. And to Coach Kittredge, Coach Turco, and Coach Dapolite, thank you for believing in me, even through the roughest of slumps. The lessons I learned from you three will never be forgotten, and I’m glad to call you guys my final high school coaches in my WHS athletic career. 

Above all, one of the most challenging sports to ever play comes during the fall: football. Since third grade, it has been a privilege to put those pads on and be allowed to legally hit other kids for a couple of hours a day. As a freshman, I wouldn’t, even in the slightest, consider myself a big person. I weighed maybe 135 pounds, and was about 5’7”, which already put me at a disadvantage in a sport where size and strength are key factors. On top of that, confidence is one of the biggest game changers in football, which was something I didn’t originally have when I walked onto the field for the first time. My first ever start on WHS varsity football was in week eight against Marlborough. I was extremely nervous, not because of the bright lights, but because I didn’t want to put my next two years of varsity football in jeopardy. It’s safe to say that the nerves were quickly calmed, and from there on, football only got better. We won the league in back-to-back seasons, and even won the first playoff game in the entire WHS varsity football history. But beyond the wins, the friendships I made through football are the ones that I believe I will never lose. I was lucky to call Andrew Pisciotta, Sam Wickline, Thomas Cashman, James Barry, Jake Martin, Aryan Bhatia, Ben Friedberg, and Eric Last teammates since youth football, and even luckier to call them my friends. To Coach Beveridge, Coach Daily, Coach Desroaches, Coach Kirby, Coach Dowd, Coach Raymond, Coach Riel, Coach Glow, and Coach Friedberg, thank you for allowing me to play in front of the entire school on Friday nights. You guys gave me some of the best memories of my high school career, all of which I will never forget. Finally, to my dad, you just couldn’t find a way to stop coaching, could you? From my first youth practice to my final Thanksgiving game, I’m glad that I was able to spend every second with you on the sidelines, and I couldn’t ask for a better coach and dad. 

If I could recommend two classes to any freshman about to begin their journey through WHS, I would recommend journalism twice. Journalism has easily been my favorite class since sophomore year, and I couldn’t be more grateful that I had the opportunity to sign up for it. This class gave me the ability to creatively write on topics that other classes would consider “off-topic.” Beyond that, it opened my eyes to my writing abilities and showed me that there is more to writing than a word limit or a set number of pages. This class is the one I look forward to every day, not just because of the creativity that awaits, but also the friends who are in it. I would like to thank Ms. Conrad, Mr. Martin, Mrs. Henderson, and the rest of the WTV staff for putting up with us for an entire year (don’t worry, we’re almost gone). I would also like to shout out the FCP boys: Jack, Justin, Jordan, Alec, and Jared. Filming each episode, there was not a second filled with happiness and laughter, and I couldn’t wish for anything more. 

Finally, to my family. Thank you for your unconditional love and support over the last four years. I truly couldn’t have completed this journey without you guys by my side, and I wouldn’t have asked for anything better. 

Signing off,

Brady Chapman