Bryan Fernandez '20 Recruiting Profile

Mentally over Physically 

  Javier Baez, a player on the Chicago Cubs said, “Defense is about attitude and preparation. Be alert. Be focused. Remember, every pitch, every play..Maybe the difference in the game.” This was said by one of the best players today, he is my inspiration and I admire his devotion to the game and his desire to always get better. This quote motivates me and are words I try to live by. I would describe myself as outgoing, respectful, dedicated and hard working. Throughout the years, my personal growth and understanding has sparked due to two significant aspects in my life- my family and baseball.

      My parents came from Dominican Republic when they were adults, and it was difficult for them to fit in the society. They barely knew a word in English, but they had to survive in a new country. They struggled throughout time to have a better quality of life and to give me and  my sister a better lifestyle, something that they wished they had. I’ve learned about hard work and dedication because of them, what they’ve shown my whole life. I had everything that they’ve ever wanted. “You only have to worry about school, and we will give you everything you will ever need.” they said. Luckily, I had a better lifestyle than others and I’ve never had to worry about having food on my plate or not having a place to sleep, this is all because of them and I plan to do the same in college.

   My family always wanted me to go to college because they didn’t even get the chance to finish school in Dominican Republic and they were afraid that when i get older i would have to struggle just like they did. They always told me that I’m more capable than I think, that I’m capable of doing great things in the future. Since that point I was 100% sure that I wanted to go to college. However I struggled my first year of high school and lost sight of what I needed to do.  

In my Freshman year of high school I started heading on the wrong path. I started hanging out with the wrong people; people that didn’t have goals. All these people just wanted to go to parties, smoke, drink, and they were bad influences in all aspects. Thankfully, I never tried any of these things, because I knew that it would upset my mom if she ever found out. Because I chose to hang out with these type of people, my grades went down and I had a lot of conflicts with my teachers, something that had never happened before. This is when I knew I had to change, I made the decision to stop following the bad influences, took school more seriously and decided to join the baseball team.

Thanks to baseball I realized that I had to change for the better. I had to change for  myself. The coach told me that I had to bring him good grades in order for me to have a chance to join the baseball team. Since I really wanted to join the team to make my parents proud and for myself, I worked really hard on what I had to do. I went to tutoring, met with teachers for extra help, studying at home and made my grades a priority.  My grades were improving, was passing all my classes, teachers started seeing me differently- as a better student and I felt like I was becoming a better version of me. Months later, some time in March, there were tryouts. The coach was really happy at the fact that my grades went up and my behavior in school improved. He let me tryout with the rest of the boys and after all the hard work and dedication, long hours of practice, I made it onto team! 

 Making it to the team showed me the importance of discipline, responsibility, and competition. Being in the school baseball team, made me realize the importance of having responsibilities and has helped me see that I can do whatever I set my mind to do with effort and dedication. Ever since I dedicated myself to what I had to do. I’ve come a long way and my plan is to continue to  be successful not just for me but for my parents, who I am forever grateful for all the sacrifices they made for me and my future. I know going to college will help me continue to grow as a person,  a professional and a leader in my community.