Hey everyone! My name is Hailey Kaufman and I am
from ten minutes north of Chicago, IL. I am actually right across the street
from Northwestern University's Ryan Field. I have a younger brother named Max,
who is currently a sophomore in high school playing football and baseball. We
are super close and people actually confuse us as twins. My family over break
rescued a five-month-old chocolate lab from Puerto Rico and we named him Tito.
I am a huge Chicago sports fan and specifically with the Blackhawks. My aunt
actually works for the owner of the team so my family has been fans forever.
Growing up in Chicago and in the atmosphere of Northwestern, sports have been
huge part of my life. I played soccer through high school and was recruited to
some smaller D1 schools but decided I wanted that big school atmosphere and Big
Ten experience here at Ohio State. Actually my senior year my high school team
won state! My high school was called New Trier High School and I graduated with
1,200 kids in my class. Actually on graduation day I was introducing myself to
the people around me! Crazy big! So in a way I was prepared for how big Ohio
State is. Here at OSU I am currently a sophomore studying Sport Industry and
minoring in business. I am currently interning with the Columbus Blue Jackets
hockey team and want to continue that path and work in the NHL after
school.
I think the biggest leadership role I have held was during high school
was as a senior class on my soccer team raised over $17,000 for a non-profit
organization in South Africa. One of our girl’s soccer alumni reached out to
our head coach and explained the program she was spearheading in the small
towns of Africa. The program is called RV United, part of Grassroots Soccer,
and is a girls soccer club that promotes healthy lifestyles for girls ages
8-18. The idea for the team started when Grassroots soccer volunteers saw an
influx of girls going through their systems. The team was in desperate need of
funding to stay alive for these girls to play soccer. My coach immediately
jumped on the opportunity and told our fellow teammate not to worry that we
would raise the money. The senior class in my high school's soccer program was
put in charge of the event. We campaigned all throughout our township, at our
games, and in school. At the end of the year banquet we were able to present a
check for over $17,000 over Skype to the girls of RV United. I loved this
project because I loved the idea that we were helping girls just like us play
the simple game we loved.
