Thiravong leading Rochelle on and off the course
ROCHELLE, Ill. (BVM) — There are a lot of accomplished high school athletes and students across the United States. But Rochelle Township High School senior, Megan Thiravong, can stack up with any of them.
Thiravong is a star golfer for the Hubs, and has remarkably become not only a team captain, but also the No. 1 player on the boys team. Setting program records while also placing at state the last three years, the 17-year-old’s game on the links is pretty impressive. But it’s what Thiravong has done off the course — through academics, volunteering and extracurriculars — that makes her so special.
The Rochelle senior grew up in Austin, Minn., and her family would move to Illinois by the time she was in fourth grade. A couple years later, Thiravong would begin playing golf competitively, adding to a list of multiple sports that she played in her youth.
Both of Thiravong’s parents were athletes as well. Specifically, her father was an international soccer star, while her mom, Watsana, was a collegiate golfer. But the Thiravong family history goes beyond just athletics.
Megan’s grandfather on her mom’s side was an officer in the Laotian military, and was sentenced to a re-education camp during the Vietnam War in the late 1970s. But the family would escape and flee the country of Laos to a refugee camp in Thailand, where they would stay for a couple years. By 1980, the family was accepted into the United States.
By the time they were in America, the Thiravongs essentially arrived with nothing other than the clothes on their back. But they quickly acclimated to their new environment, finding jobs, going to school and quickly becoming an American success story. A couple generations later, Megan has become the definition of a success story, and credits her family roots for helping her to get to where she is today.
“I have always had the desire to achieve new things and reach beyond the barriers that have been set in front of me,” Megan said. “Being a female, minority and the first generation of my family born in the United States, I always felt like it was a necessity to overcome those challenges. The determination brought forth by my family is definitely fueled by our past because they put the opportunity in front of me and it’s my obligation to take the opportunity and run with it.”
Taking her opportunity and running with it might be an understatement for Megan. The 17-year-old’s impressive resume begins with what she has done over the years on the golf course.
Megan’s mother was a collegiate golfer at a community college in Minnesota. Transferring from Kansas University, Watsana’s new school needed a female golfer, so she decided to help out, despite having little to no background in the sport.
“I ran into K-Mart and purchased a $100 golf club set,” Watsana said. “I had never touched a golf club before and had never seen a course but I just went to work and made it to a regional. From what I learned, I was able to pass on to my kids.”
Watsana has been able to do just that. When Megan began playing golf in middle school, she was immediately hooked on the competition the sport offers, as well as the mental and physical aspects of golf. Part of that competition comes from Megan’s younger sister, Ailani, who the Rochelle senior believes has a very bright future in the sport.
“She is an absolutely phenomenal golfer,” Megan said of Ailani. “She has the potential to become a professional if she sets her heart and soul into the game of golf. I truly believe that she can do virtually anything she wants with the skills she has.”
But Megan’s golf career has been pretty impressive in its own right. Some of her favorite memories have come from playing with the Jane Lyons elite team based out of Rockford, Ill., where she has gotten to travel to prestigious golf courses across the Midwest. But what Megan has accomplished at Rochelle is not overlooked.
Megan has played on the boys varsity team her entire high school career, where she quickly became the squad’s No. 1 golfer. Megan was also a team captain, team MVP, and an all-conference player in her sophomore and junior seasons.
After coming excruciatingly close as a freshman and sophomore, Megan became the first golfer in Rochelle Township High School history to win conference last season. She has also qualified for state in each of the past three years, improving her finishes each year from 65th as a freshman, to 20th as a sophomore, to an impressive 12th place finish in 2019.
The senior is very proud of what she has accomplished in her high school golf career so far, and has enjoyed playing as the top golfer on the boys team.
“My first three years of golf in high school were very fun to say the least,” Megan said. “Being a girl on the boys team is an amazing experience. I will always be proud to represent Rochelle and our team. I’ve always been committed to the team as a servant leader. Being a team captain and attending state for all of the years it’s been offered has always been a goal of mine.”
Megan has continued leading her team as a captain during her senior year. Although COVID-19 has had an impact on her final prep golf season, Megan and her team are just happy to be getting to play at all this fall.
But perhaps Megan’s best accomplishment in the game of golf is winning the Rockford Women’s Golf Classic this summer, beating many experienced area golfers.
“I’m very proud of how I played and it was a highly competitive tournament,” Megan said about the Rockford Women’s Golf Classic. “I knew that the best of the Rockford area would be there to compete but it was just an amazing experience to have all of these wonderful ladies there to play with.”
As if Megan’s high school golf career wasn’t impressive enough, what she has done off the course has been nothing short of incredible. It begins with also competing in track and field, where the senior has competed in discus, shot put, and pole vault — the latter of which she competes in against her mom’s wishes.
Outside of sports, Megan has been involved with student council, which she has enjoyed because she is able to have a positive impact on her school community. Branching off of that, Megan has also been a part of Rochelle’s Youth in Philanthropy program, where she has put together a website for people to apply for grants, which are awarded to non-profit organizations.
Meanwhile, Megan has been the drumline captain for the Rochelle Township High School band. She knew from a young age that she wanted to be part of the drumline in high school, a dream which she has fulfilled over the last four years.
Perhaps one of Megan’s favorite extracurricular activities has been her time as a member of the school’s speech team, where she has again been a captain in her senior year. Other activities the 17-year-old has been involved with include Interact Club, theater, and Youth in Science.
And yet, despite being involved in so much, Megan finds time to put in work in the classroom, where she has achieved a weighted 4.5 GPA throughout her time at Rochelle.
“Academic success is the most imperative thing in my high school, college and future careers,” Megan noted. “You learn first in the classroom and I put forth all of the time that I have towards my academics because I know that is the most important thing.”
Remarkably, Megan has found time to do an exceptional amount of volunteer work as well. During high school, the senior has donated over 500 hours of her time to volunteer work, raising nearly $22,000 for local causes in her community.
“Because all of my predecessors in my family have had extremely difficult things to overcome in order to live comfortably as they do now, I have a specific belief instilled in me that it is my obligation to go above and beyond and assist others in need,” Megan said. “That’s where the philanthropic efforts come in.”
One of the most notable philanthropic efforts Megan has been a part of was creating a prosthetic arm for a farmer using a 3-D printer. She was part of a group of hand-chosen individuals for the project, which garnered national attention, even from ABC News.
“The moment he put the arm on, he was smiling and happy,” Megan said. “We were all holding back our tears because in that moment he had the first chance to hold his new-born baby with that prosthetic arm. It was absolutely amazing.”
Megan has left an unmatched impact on the Rochelle community. By this time next year, she will undoubtedly be doing the same in college. She is still deciding on what school she will attend, but Megan plans to major in biomedical engineering while also continuing her golf career.
The future is bright for the Rochelle senior as she moves into college and beyond. But for now, she will stay focused on the present moment. Some might wonder how Megan balances such a busy schedule, that sometimes keeps her up from 6 a.m to 2 a.m. But she thrives on it, and hopes to continue to make an impact in whatever way possible.
“The whole point of my schedule is to set one priority after another,” Megan said. “I couldn’t do it without the support of my parents and the community. Some days I have to take four outfits and three meals on the road just to make all of my activities in a timely manner. It seems unrealistic to have this many activities along with academics on one plate. But because of my priorities, I’m able to balance things out by working ahead and never getting behind.”
