- November 2022
Personal Statement
“I’m going to win because I’m crazy enough to think I can.” That is my favorite quote of all time and speaks to me the most as a person. Everyone in my life has at some point told me to quit trying, that I will never be accepted to play for a US college softball team. However, here I am, a starting sophomore at a Division 1 junior college in Liberal, Kansas and this is only my first step.
Throughout my whole life, I can not remember a time when I was not involved in sports. Twelve years of my life were spent in a gymnastics gym where I strived to reach the highest level possible. In fact, before moving on to baseball, I reached level eight which is only two levels away from the Olympics. Afterwards, five years were spent in baseball, three of which have been spent playing both baseball and softball. Although all three sports have been instrumental in developing who I am and what I am passionate about, as soon as I started playing softball, I knew I had found my sport.
Freshman year at my junior college was amazing. I was the starting second baseman and second leadoff or leadoff for my collegiate softball team. I went from being recruited as an outfielder/catcher and a right-handed hitter to a middle infielder and only hitting left side as a slapper who occasionally powerhit. Having never hit on the left side in my entire life changed my perspective on softball and opened up a whole new way of how to play the game. To succeed with this new challenge, I used my determination and strong work ethic to be worthy of a spot on a US softball team. I spent hours upon hours in the indoor facility just hitting however many buckets of balls to finally be good at it and it all paid off in the end. At the end of the season, I hit .311 with an OBP of .388 and 20 stolen bases.
Over the summer, I continued hitting on the left side for softball and right-handed in the two-hole spot for my baseball team. During the U22 European Softball Championships, I was the leadoff lefty slapper that earned my spot on the batting leaderboard despite Sweden having only placed 15th in the tournament. I was fourth in hits, and first in number of runs.
Sports has been a fantastic teacher. Gymnastics taught me to be tough when failure comes around and push back when getting pushed. Baseball gave me the confidence, friendships and family I never knew I needed. It taught me to speak my mind and to never cower in front of people who are not open to girls being strong in stereotypically boys’ sports. Softball taught me the importance of being open to anything and to never give up no matter how far the other team is in the lead. I look forward to continuing learning more every day.
