Alaina Di Dio '20 Recruiting Profile

My first softball tournament at age 10 was a defining and pivotal moment in my softball and academic career. I was all set to be the starting pitcher in the first game, but things did not go well that first game, and I fell to the 3^rd string pitcher slot for the rest of the season. From this experience, I learned a very valuable lesson – if you want to excel and be successful at something, you need to put in a lot of hard work and dedication. I realized that my “wing it” mentality would not be helpful in achieving my goals.

I have applied this understanding to other passions in my life, including my love of music and academics. Because of this hard work, I earned a spot on the Michigan State Honors Choir three years in a row and played the part of Mrs. Potts in “Beauty and the Beast”, Sandra Dee in “Grease” , and Adelaide in "Guys and Dolls" in my high school musicals, all in the midst of a busy academic and travel softball schedule.

I have always loved school, but I have found it challenging to take the courses I am most interested in (e.g., music classes, biology/anatomy classes) and be involved in softball/extra-curriculars.  In order to make it work, I have attended math/science camps (i.e., the Michigan Math and Science Scholars camp) and taken Physics on-line over the summer to free up time to take music and AP courses during the school year.

All of these decisions have made for busy school years and summers, but I have learned my early lesson well – that anything you love to do is worth doing well and working hard to achieve. I look forward to applying this lesson to my future collegiate career, both on and off the softball field!