Lynn grad wins scholarship from Patriots

LYNN – Like a lot of New Englanders, Terry Finnigan is a pretty big Patriots fan. He watched the team climb its way up to dynasty status and has been rooting hard for them despite some disappointing follow-up seasons.Finnigan thinks the Patriots’ recent history is like the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, which was the theme of an essay he wrote for a contest sponsored by the Patriots Charitable Foundation, and the ideas struck a chord with the judges.Finnigan, a former honor student who played hockey, baseball and soccer and was Lynn Classical’s 2010 student athlete of the year, won second place and was awarded a $7,500 scholarship from the team’s foundation. The money will come in handy for Finnigan, who is now a freshman studying economics at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y.”It was like a creative writing assignment,” says Finnigan, who is grateful to the team and its owners, the Kraft family, for sponsoring the contest which saw scholarships awarded to 28 student-athletes. “I applied last January, just for the heck of it.”Finnigan also had to submit an essay on his personal volunteer experiences. He had plenty to write about. He has been a longtime volunteer for the Pine Hill Little League Association and the Lynn Youth Hockey Program.Finnigan says he learned a lot from school sports but the most important lesson was the value of teamwork.”You really can’t do anything by yourself,” he says. “It takes a team for most things.”During an award ceremony last June, Finnigan says he had a chance to meet former linebacker and Patriots legend Andre Tippett, who is now the team’s executive director of Community Affairs, and Josh Kraft, the foundation president.”It was great,” says Finnigan. “They were great to us.”Finnigan plans to play hockey at Union this year. Hockey was the sport he enjoyed most at Classical. And he’ll be joining other alums who cheer on Rams teams, especially since his younger brothers John and Patrick are playing football, baseball and hockey this year.Finnigan says Classical’s football team will have a great season this year. It’s probably a bankable prediction since the Rams have a reputation for being as hard working as the Argonauts, the Greek warriors who backed up Jason during his Golden Fleece days.”Classical had a good year last year and I think they’ll do well this season,” he says.