You can’t overstate the role chess plays in the life of Gabriella Glaz.
Not only is the Tewksbury resident ranked among the top 70 women of all ages in the state of New Jersey, but she’s also captured rankings in the top 100 of her age group nationally every year from the time she was 13 until now, at age 18.
She was the founder and president of the chess club at Immaculata High School in Somerville, and spent the last two summers volunteering at the local library, teaching children as young as 5 the basics of the game she’s loved since she was that age herself.
Glaz even managed to incorporate the sport into a year-long project she conducted as a Marian Scholar, part of an invitation-only program her high school offers to nurture research skills.
Her objective was to determine through intensive surveys and testing of fellow students whether IQ or personality could better predict a chess player’s future success. (Spoiler alert: IQ won.)
Glaz believes the skills she cultivated playing chess over the years – sometimes up to 10 hours a week – will serve her well at Rutgers-New Brunswick School of Arts and Sciences, where she’s contemplating a dual major in history and sports management.
“I know that’s not a common duo,” acknowledges the Rutgers-New Brunswick Honors College student, “but I’d like to go to law school, and eventually do sports contract law, so I thought those two majors would serve me well.”
She also hopes to check out the Rutgers University Chess Club, which holds in-person meetings and tournaments throughout the school year. Although it’s a relatively new club – created just 15 years ago – the organization, which meets regularly at the Busch Student Center, boasts more than 660 members.
With all the concentration on rooks, knights, pawns and kings, Glaz still managed to stand out academically at Immaculata, being chosen president of the National Honor Society and the Spanish Honor Society.
Again, it all comes back to chess, she says: Those long hours contemplating her next move at a long table in a quiet room paid off in myriad ways.
“You learn a lot about yourself while playing,”
Glaz says.
“I learned to have confidence in myself. Even if you’re in a rough patch, you keep trying your best. I know I’m a capable person, and that one bad game doesn’t define who I am.”
FULL SOURCE: Rutgers Today | Meet the Class of 2027: An Award-Winning and Caring Group of High Achievers