Personal Statement
It seems that everyone keeps asking me what college I want to attend. Honestly, I only have two criteria. The first being a good sports medicine program and secondly, I just want to be able to play baseball. You see, baseball has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I see pictures of myself when I was only a year old at my older sister's t-ball games, where I would finally be able to run the bases after her games. Baseball is not only a God given talent and desire in my life, it is in my genes. My great, great uncle; great grandfather; grandfather; and father were all outstanding catchers and hitters. I actually still have a photo beside my bed of my Dad giving me a high five immediately after I hit a "homerun" off of my tee when I was still in a diaper. I would always be outside with my baseball and glove waiting on my Dad to get home from work so we could play catch. Many times I would be waiting hours in advance playing catch by myself, just in case he got home early that day. On days that he had to work late and came home tired, he still played catch with me as soon as he got out of his truck. We have always shared this special bond. I have always been on competitive traveling teams and remember my Dad coaching me in the early years and hitting balls as hard as he could possibly hit them to me at short stop. I was only 5 and remember my Mom being scared that I would get hurt by the ball. The ball hit me only one time in the mouth, I looked up at my Dad and he told me to get the ball. He never let up and I never was scared of the ball after that. I guess that is where I got the names "Scoop" and when catching, "The Wall." One of my coaches always referred to me as "the human vacuum cleaner" because letting the ball get past me was never an option. I love to teach baseball to younger kids probably because at a young age I had a very special coach that took me under his wing and built on my fundamentals. He saw something in me and worked with me at every position. He told me that his desire for me was to be able to tell my college baseball coach that I can play wherever I am needed. Although our lives have gone in different directions over the years, we still keep in touch and I look forward to the day that I can fulfill his dream for me. It is because of Coach Rusty that I have a glove for every position in my ball bag. I volunteer every season to umpire at little league games. In serving the community throughout my high school years I have had the great privilege and honor of working with the Special Olympics and made some great friends. My heart goes out to anyone who is physically challenged. I feel like baseball is what I am supposed to be doing. It has become a platform to help people. I am so grateful for the opportunities that have been extended to me in baseball. I have been fortunate enough to be the bat boy for the Memphis Redbirds for the past five years and hope to be the warm-up catcher this next season. Most of all, I was able to make it to the Nationals in Cary, North Carolina at the National Training Center for the USA Baseball Olympic team. I must say that it was a very proud moment to wear a USA baseball jersey. I love how the game of baseball is also a mental game as well. The game of baseball has taught me great work ethic, integrity, responsibility, discipline, sacrifice, leadership skills, respect, and team work not only in sports but in school work as well as in life.
