- January 2021
Personal Statement
My name is Elizabeth Williams and I am 17-years-old. I am a rising senior at Hempfield High School where I was the starting shortstop and number three-hitter for my varsity softball team for my junior year. For my short-lived sophomore year season due to the COVID-19 outbreak, I was the starting shortstop as well as the fourth batter in the lineup. For my freshman season, I was the lead-off hitter and starting shortstop for our undefeated season. I also have been playing travel softball for six years. This year I play on the Spooky Nook 18U Gold team where I am the starting third baseman, a backup shortstop, and backup second baseman. In addition to playing softball, I have been helping to coach the Hempfield 8 and under softball team for the past two seasons, as well as helping out with the younger teams at the nook. I also play for my high school's varsity field hockey team. As a freshman, I made the starting JV lineup, as a sophomore and a junior, I was chosen to play for the varsity team as a starting midfielder and defender.
Academically, I enjoy my math and science courses taking calculus, physics, and anatomy this upcoming school year. Also this year, I will be taking AP comparative gov, as well as a literature dual enrollment course at HACC for English. I have earned a 3.96 GPA this year. I enjoy my coursework and hope to pursue a college degree in applied health in physical therapy or to go into biomedical engineering. While I enjoy math and science, I also have enjoyed taking creative writing, communication technology 1,2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, computer programming, personal finance, and sports marketing so far during my high school career. Also, I have taken both Spanish one and two courses as an 8th grader and a freshman, and have taken Latin one as a junior. I am looking forward to finishing out my last year as a high school student-athlete strong both in the classroom and on the field.
When I am not in the classroom or on the softball field, I spend most of my time serving others. I am able to do this through my high schools anchor club which focuses on serving other in and outside of the Hempfield community. Through my high school I was a captain of the Mini-THON entertainment committee as a sophomore and become the Mini-THON operations overall as a junior and senior. In this role, it is my responsibility to help with the Mini-THON main event at the end of the school year. This includes fundraising throughout the year, recruiting students to join, and running and organizing the event. Mini-THON is a club that helps raise money for families who have children battling cancer. I am also apart of my school's sisterhood club which focuses on building other girls up instead of bringing them down and producing a safe space for girls to be truly open about their lives. I am also apart of my schools fellowship of Christian Athletes club which focuses on bring all athletes together to share in our believes, it is also a way for me to talk freely about my religion and beliefs to other people at my school. I also joined a new club at our school this year called one love which focuses on abusive relationships and how to reach out or help others who have been through it. I was also a member of my high school's steering committee as a freshman, and I was the treasurer for my middle school. Another way that I help to serve others is that for several years my family and I have traveled to Cape May, New Jersey for a week to attend a family church retreat. We are often the host family. In this role we assist the retreat staff in cooking, cleaning, and helping the other families feel welcome while bringing them and ourselves closer to God and each other.
For fun, I enjoy cooking, gardening, and traveling. In the summer of 2018, I earned my certification to be an open water scuba diver and tested my skills the last few years while on family dive trips. My family travels to Mexico during the fall where we explored the coral reefs off the coast of Cozumel.
I have been playing softball for 12 years starting at the age of 5. And I was lucky enough this year to be able to teach one of my friends how to play and be a competitor for our high school team, because this year unfortunately we needed extra players. So two of my friends and I took it upon ourselves to teach her how to play and that we would be able to have a season for our sophomore year. We would go to the cages and any open spaces we could find and get together to teach her how to play the sport we love. Two months later she tried out and was able to make the JV team. Softball has taught me many important life lessons. I have learned to always work hard because nothing will ever be handed to me. Softball has also taught me how to work as part of a team, and to manage my time wisely. Also, it taught me to always make sure that I perform to the best of my ability and to never walk off the field knowing I could have done better. If I were to be given the opportunity to continue my softball career while earning my college degree, I’ll make sure to give everything I have on and off the field.
