Personal Statement
“The two most important days of your life is the day you are born, and the day you find out why”-Mark Twain. The one thing I have that no one else has is me, my voice, my mind, my story and my vision. To me life is like playing a softball game, I have to be both determined but patient to do the most pristine job I can. In the beginning of a softball game, you are unaware to what kind of challenges the competition may bring. As you progress along you begin to learn more about how to control the game. You learn what not to pitch to their “clean up” hitter, and learn to scoot forward in the box when you first get up if the pitch is going to be a drop. From time to time competition throws something at you that you’d never expect, like a screw ball on a full count; when I was 13, I moved from Chicago, one of the most beautiful cities in America, to Newburyport MA, one of the smallest cities in America. Though a screw ball might have been a shock, you might just hit a home run like I did by moving here.
I made friends fast at my new school and tried to fit in as much as possible. I stuck out like a sore thumb anyway, both in school and softball. I stuck out in school because I had a bit of an accent, plus I acted and dressed different, but I learned quickly how to take pride in my differences. I stuck out in softball because the majority of girls who play usually stand at 5’5 to 5’10… well I’m 5’1 ½. I took advantage of my size, both in strategy and quickness. I found I got noticed a lot more on the field by coaches. Indeed it could have been my skills, but then again it could have been the fact all the other catchers looked like they could have eaten me in one bite. I proved myself in time though. I received nick names like peanut, shrimp, shorty, littl’un, pitbull…etc. I do take pride in my pettiness, and my height never held me back one game or day in my life.
I consider myself in the 4th inning. By now I know most of my in’s and my out’s and could make an accurate guess for what is coming next. I know that once in a while you have to talk quieter just to see who’s listening , or step up in a fight just to see who’s standing by your side. But what I’ve learned from both softball and life is to expect the unexpected. I’ll never be sure what life is going to throw at me next, but I know not going to strap down and take the pitch. I’m going to read that ball and swing with all my little might. I might not know every detail of life, maybe not even until the 7th inning, nevertheless I do know that every part of me wants to achieve, every part of my body is here to succeed and won’t stop until the end of the game.