Zack Stokes '21 Recruiting Profile

    From age 5 I knew my favorite sport was baseball. I never could have imagined the great impact it would have on me later, getting me to where I am today. My dad ushered me into the baseball community and both parents have not once given up on me. The most valuable lesson I have learned in baseball would not be the game I went 4-4 or made outstanding plays in the outfield but it is the games where I failed. The games where I was in a slump and unable to get out taught me the up and down nature of the game. The game can be your best friend then it can throw you out running home. I have used these lessons in the classroom as well.  Baseball has taught me the importance of staying focused in school and daily life. I feel that being a student athlete has influenced me to strive to do my best both academically and socially.

    Although baseball has had a strong impact on my life, I could not have gotten to where I am today without lessons and influences outside of the game.  I have been fortunate to have many teachers, mentors, and coaches that have helped me overcome obstacles with my own character and helping me find out who I truly am. Through volunteer activities and mission work I have learned the importance of being selfless and giving back to the community. The pre-teens that I mentor weekly in a small Christian group have changed the way I look at life. I see the way they look at life with such positivity and hope and I try to model that day in and day out.  The mission work has opened my eyes to different communities and what it means to be humble and truly serve. My summer lifeguarding job has allowed me to build on other aspects of teamwork outside of sports. The responsibilities that come with being a lifeguard have challenged me to put others first and be ready for any situation. Each day that I climb on the stand reminds me that I must put someone else's need first even if the situation is dangerous.  I am working as a student leader in my school through Link Crew and the PE Leaders programs.  I have chosen both of these leadership opportunities as a way to connect with teachers and classmates outside of the baseball program and to improve my leadership skills. These aspects have made me who I am today, just a kid with a dream to get a degree while having fun playing baseball, but the best is yet to come.