Personal Statement
Hello, I am Olivia Bainbridge. I have grown up my whole life watching my brother play in his baseball games and being inspired to follow his true passion, baseball; which has now grown into my own passion, softball.
Ever since I was a young girl I have always dreamed about attending a college/university. This dream was extended however once I began playing club ball; I wanted to play this sport for as long as I could, and to extend that play, It was imperative that I trained to be good enough for college softball. The thrill of watching any college softball game is indescribable, I don't know if it is just the speed of the game, or if it is my fascination with the sport, but I want to be on that field just like the girls that I have grown up watching.
On a team, my main goal is to stand out. I do not want to be on a team to just be a fill-in player, my goal is to mean something; rather this is by me being the loudest one on the bench, or making crazy plays in the field, that is my number one goal. My second goal is to make everyone feel accomplished, and to be a leader. What I mean by this, is not letting my head down; as well as lifting up others after an error or a strikeout. I even attempt to talk to the others team's players when they are in the batters box and I am catching. If you were to ask anyone on my team or on the other team that we are playing, I hope that they would tell you that I am the loudest one on our team. If anyone was to bring me onto their team, I would bring leadership and positivity to any team. I love making people laugh and smile. I try to grow a connection to everyone on my team, including my coaches, any strong relationship starts with personal connection, which I try to have with everyone on my team, trainers, and coaches. Academically, my main goal is to be much better than average. I work immensely hard on my grades, putting forth 2-3 hours every night on studying. To my advantage, I greatly enjoy schools and the process of learning.
One thing about myself as well is I am very discipline to myself. I set very high goals for myself in every part of my life; school, softball, anything. I set high goals on purpose, to make myself work harder. I have a very competitive nature to me, but it is controlled to simply in my head. I train multiple times/every day of the week, both with trainers and doing as simple things as tee work and drills by myself. This is a major advantage to be brought to a team, because know that after any error or mistake I have made, I will be looking forward onto the next play on how to improve and how to not make the same error.
I have also played basketball through a majority of my life. I decided to stop playing this year (my sophomore year of high school), so I had more time for and opportunities for softball. I had played years within a church program, AAU, and my freshmen year of high school on Junior Varsity. I am grateful to have played basketball, it has taught me hustle and has taught me stamina.
I really pride myself in not only showing 100% effort on the field, but as well as in the classroom. I take classes to challenge myself, not just fill-in classes. I currently take debate and medical occupations as electives, to help prepare me/help figure out what field I want to study, Law or Medicine. I am in my sophomore year right now, and I have been on the Honor roll since 6th grade. I am a year ahead of my class in math and take honors biology. As stated above, I take these classes to push myself and better prepare me for college level courses. I know very well that college is meant to prepare me for the career I am wanting to pursue, so obtaining a degree and keeping a high GPA for acceptance into grad school is very important to me when thinking about my future and college softball.