As a modern-day Renaissance man involved in athletics, the arts, student government and a member of multiple honor societies with an extensive record of volunteerism and a 4.25 cumulative grade point average, Kevin O’Neil has the potential to succeed in whatever he endeavors.
A series of injuries and ailments, however, including hip impingement syndrome, which required surgery, and degenerative changes to the spine, known as spondylosis, which left him in a back brace, curtailed O’Neil’s once promising baseball career and led him down a new path.
Personal experiences working with “phenomenal physical therapy professionals” as an outpatient inspired O’Neil to want to help others.
O’Neil, who is a recipient of the 2019 Marisa Tufaro Foundation Student-Athlete Scholarship, will study physical therapy at Sacred Heart University.
“Ironically,” O’Neil wrote in the eloquent essay he submitted as part of his scholarship application, “the injuries that sidelined me (including a fractured ankle) made me a better person and may have actually opened the door to new possibilities and greater understanding of my future patients.”
The recently graduated Bishop Ahr senior got an early jump on his studies last summer when he was selected to participate in Northeastern University’s accelerated two-week pre-college program, through which O’Neil explored careers of health professionals, participated in medical simulations, engaged in campus research and earned CPR certification.
“Kevin suffered from injuries and a surgery that sidetracked his athletic career,” a member of the Bishop Ahr staff wrote in a letter of recommendation on his behalf. “It was his physical therapists and doctors that got him back up walking and made it possible for him to return to the field once again. Kevin has the drive and ambition to follow in his heroes’ footsteps and help someone else the way they helped him.
“Kevin is truly a one-of-a-kind student. As much as we want to keep Kevin here forever, we know that would be selfish as this dynamic young man is capable of anything and can without a doubt change the world.”
O’Neil took more than a dozen honors courses throughout his high school career and made the Distinguished Honor Roll all four years. He was inducted into the National Honor Society, the Science Honor Society, the Math Honor Society and the Spanish Honor Society.
He served as Student Council President, Junior Class Vice President and Freshman Class Secretary/Treasurer.
O’Neil was one of 36 students selected to participate in Bishop Ahr’s five-credit Peer Leadership course and represented the high school at the 30th annual New Jersey Elks Peer Leadership Conference, meeting students from across the state who took part in seminars on leadership and substance abuse.
He was a member of the Ahr Star Board, which is dedicated to raising money for chronically ill children, volunteered at St. Francis Cathedral, assisting the cathedral’s Social Concerns Office in a variety of capacities, and in June 2017 was one of 20 Bishop Ahr students to participate in a weeklong service program.
Through his participation in school-sponsored community service events, O’Neil logged more than 500 service hours, yet still found time to be member of the high school’s Spanish Club, Fishing Club, Christian Social Action Club and In Harm’s Way Club. He also managed to work at Top Golf in his native Edison and to job shadow a board-certified physical therapist.
The injuries that derailed O’Neil’s baseball career – he still managed to earn a varsity letter as a junior and senior – enabled him to explore other interests including acting.
He landed a lead role in Bishop Ahr’s spring musical production of Monty Python’s Spamalot, whose practices and performances ran concurrent to those of the baseball team in late March and early April.
O’Neil, a pitcher who made his stage debut playing the lead of Sir Lancelot, concluded a six-performance run on the first weekend in April during which the entire Bishop Ahr team caught his Saturday night performance.
A symbiotic relationship between Lea Gossett, Bishop Ahr’s drama director and fine arts department chair, and Tom D’Agostino, the high school’s head baseball coach, enabled O’Neil to simultaneously pursue his athletic and artistic interests.
“We all share a common goal at Bishop Ahr, and that’s to serve our students in the best way possible, to make sure they get to explore what they need to,” Gossett said. “There’s more to life than just one thing for some of them. If they want to figure out their interests, that’s up to us to help them do that.”
O’Neil was in a back brace his sophomore year and underwent arthroscopic surgery on his hip in October 2017. The combination of those ailments relegated him to the jayvee squad as a junior. He saw action in three varsity games during the 2018 campaign, one in which he took the mound for Bishop Ahr at an Autism Awareness Baseball Challenge contest against Colonia. O’Neil said the outing “didn’t go well,” understandably for a pitcher who hadn’t thrown a baseball since freshman year.
“The coaches thought I really could have impacted our team as a pitcher and at third base,” O’Neil said of the staff’s disposition before he was injured. “I kept the (score) book. It wasn’t the same knowing you are supposed to be out there helping the team.”
D’Agostino said O’Neil “embodies everything we as coaches preach” including bringing energy to the ballpark daily, putting forth outstanding effort and being a great teammate.
“Although Kevin faced several injuries his sophomore and junior years that prevented him from having an active role on the baseball field, he never missed a chance to stay present within the team dynamic,” D’Agostino said.
“He maintained attendance at practices, games and any other functions that came about. Kevin has proven himself to be an outstanding and valuable member of our baseball program.”