Hayes Edmond '20 Recruiting Profile

My Name is Hayes Jackson Edmond, I was born with three last names. I come from an ancestry of hard workers and achieivers. For most of my life I have felt this pressure to be one of my ancestors. Whether it be my Great-grandfather who was a pitcher in the negro leagues and a teacher. Or my grandfather from my dad’s side who did two tours in Vietnam and flew choppers. Or my grand \father from my mom’s side. He was the first black mayor of atlanta. I have always been aware of my illustrious heritage, but it has kind of been a double edged sword. On one hand  have always been proud of it, but it also caused me to be complacent with my action. As a kid I thought that just because all of these great men to look up, that somehow I would just fall into the same greatness and position as them. I assumed that the same lifestyle and amount of respect that they earned throughout their lives would be handed to me. I never took into account the amount of hours and sacrifices they gave to end up where they are. It was when I was 16 when I truly understood that nothing would be given to me in life. It was mid september and I had just gotten home from school. I was nervous to talk to my parents because my third progress report had come back and it was no better than than the first. I was in a mental slump at the time and for some reason I found myself constantly procrastinating. As a result, I found myself failing literature. The only thing I had to be proud of at the time, was baseball. So i took a closer look into why I was getting the most out of baseball. I realized that I was successful at baseball because I put the most time into it. Everyday I would make sure to at least hit for an hour. At first it felt like a lot to handle, but after a few months it got eaisier. I was honest with myself and understood that I was not giving enough attention to my school work as I was too baseball. After getting into an argument with my parents, they forced me to accept that this is my life and in order to succeed in life, I need to put in the same effort as I do in baseball.