Clayton Wilkins Autobiography

I have loved baseball for years, but by the time I was a freshman at Laurel High School, I had precious little experience. The chances of me playing baseball in most high schools were slim, but this was Laurel. America’s favorite pastime was treated there as a vestige of years long forgotten. The athletic director ignored us, the students didn’t support us, and the school funded us just enough to say that they had a baseball program. Tucked away in a forgotten corner of the campus in the gloomy shadows of the tower from which football games were announced, the baseball diamond was the school’s disgrace. The dugouts were dismal cinder block bunkers with peeling paint and a propensity to flood. Grass was scarce where it was supposed to be and

My breakfast started to creep back up my throat as game time got closer and closer. I walked across the patch of grass behind home plate and was towered over by the 30 foot backstop with a huge net suspended from it. My bulging bag of equipment was beginning to make my shoulder hang. I walked down the steps into the cement dugout and placed my bag under the bench that spanned the entire length of the dugout. I sat down, laced up my cleats, and put my warm-up jacket on in preparation for batting practice. I stepped onto the grass surrounding the dugout to get the feeling of how wet the grass was. I dug my cleats into the grass and began my usual routine of taking certain practice swings as I gazed upon the press box in the wake of the backstop. Preceding the burn in my forearms, caused from the practice swings, I marched behind the dugout to the rows of batting cages to wait my turn in line. Pacing back and forth I knew I had to keep my nervousness to a minimum. I popped in a wad of Big League Chew and continued to

I am presently in the Masters of Kinesiology, Exercise Science Program and plan to graduate in the Fall of 2017. After graduation, I plan to become a Strength and Conditioning Coach at the Collegiate or Professional level. This chosen career path has always been a conflict with my parents because they always pushed my siblings and me into what they consider to be more stable and prestigious field such as law, medicine and engineering. My parents always thought my chosen career was not worth pursuing. I want to prove to my parents and family that there are many paths to achieve the “American Dream” and chasing your passion and being great at it is the epitome of success and feeling a sense of fulfillment in life. I want to be the example for my family to chase your passion and dream even though people may not believe in you or support you. What matters the most is that they believe in themselves no matter the circumstances or how hard life

Jesse Ernest Wilkins Jr. was born on November 27, 1923 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the son of Lucile Robinson and Jesse Ernest Wilkins Sr. His mother had a Master’s degree from the University of Chicago and was a school teacher. His father was a lawyer, even though he had his Bachelor’s in Mathematics from the University of Chicago, he later became the President of the Cook County bar association and Assistant Secretary of Labor by president Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Eisenhower administration, he became the first African American to hold a sub-cabinet position in the U.S. government. Wilkin’s grandfather was also notable for founding St. Mark Methodist Church in New York City. Living up to his parents’ expectations, Jesse Ernest Wilkins

Jesse Ernest Wilkins jr. Born November 27,1923a in Chicago and died May 12, 2011 in Arizona was an American nuclear scientist mathematician and and mechanical engineer he attended the university of Chicago at the age of 13, becoming its youngest student. Because he was young and smart he got the name "negro genius"in local newspapers at 17 Jesse, received his Associate bachelor . in Mathematics and ranked in the top 10 in Mathematics' famous undergraduate Putnam Competition. the youngest student ever admitted.

What I have learned from Kurt Warner’s success, is that it isn’t easy to get to where you want to be in life. It takes hard work as well as patience and practice and you will get better and get to your goals. It is easier to take short cuts but short cuts only take you so far. Him practicing and using his grit he was able to reach his goal, sure he was older than most of the other players but he at the same was sure of his goals and in his prime consider better. I want to take what I learned from Kurt’s experience and apply it to my life. If I want to become a nurse it will not be an easy road to get there but I must plan and think of it like a marathon and not give up easy. If it does take a little longer than I wanted then I need to plan

Throughout my teenage years I loved to play baseball. I was in different clubs, organizations, and teams. My whole life was dedicated to playing ball. Then things started to change going into my freshmen year, I started to get into computers. I decided to enroll into a computer class at Franklin high school. I started to learn a lot stuff about computers and also I was pretty good at it. Also at the time I was still managing to be in baseball. Then going into my senior year I had to choses in between being in baseball or going into computers. I knew going into computers will help me get a head start in my carrier. So I chose to go into computers and quit baseball. I thought I will never have to quit baseball my whole life. It was a very big significant event in my life but good things have come with it. I got three CompTIA certifications, paid for half of my

The memories shared through generations of baseball can be pictured by many, the pickup game of all the neighborhood boys in the vacant lot down the street, the miraculous foul ball landing right in your lap, the classic summer day spent at the ballpark eating hotdogs and singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and “Sweet Caroline.” But more recently, these classic memories are being replaced by those of overbearing Little League coaches who need to take a chill pill, boring games that go on for nine extra innings, and overpriced hotdogs that just don’t taste right.

Roy Wilkins was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He was born on August 30, 1901. Wilkins and his two siblings lived with their aunt because their mother died when he was four years old. Wilkins’s aunt lived in St. Paul, Minnesota. He attended Mechanic Arts High. He graduated high school in 1909. Wilkins graduated college in 1923. He attended the University of Minnesota. Wilkins married Aminda Badeau six years later. Roy Wilkins moved to Kansas City before he met his spouse. In Kansas City of 1923, Roy became the editor of the Kansas City Call newspaper. He would confront racist politicians. In 1931, he moved to New York City. He was the assistant of the head of the NAACP (Nation Association of the Advancement of Colored People), Walter White.

Baseball has always been known as America's pastime. But America's pastime, along with America's past, have both been saturated with the brutal force of racism. For hundreds of years, from the time of slavery until the middle of the 20th century, African-American children rounded up their friends and headed to the baseball diamond. There, for thousands of young black players, the smell of the grass, the cloud of dust that formed when running the ninety feet between bases, and the feeling of safely sliding into homeplate for a run marked the glimmer of fun and excitement in an otherwise dreary day. However, due to the color of their skin, black children were not awarded these

To the average spectator, the time surrounding a single pitch consists of a steady emotion; however, I have experienced one of the wildest and most thrilling roller coaster rides of emotion while standing on the mound. I was completely aware of the situation. I was “in the zone”. Nothing could stop me. I had been perfect up till now; not a single batter got a hit. With sweat pouring down my face like a rapid waterfall, I took a deep breath. All eyes were fixated on me, but I didn’t feel that. My eyes took a quick glance at the massive crowd; some were cheering and others looked like they were about to give a speech in front of thousands. They collectively stared at the mound and anxiously awaited the next pitch. The ball fired out of my hand

I had dreams of being famous- really how hard can that be? You go to college, work hard at baseball, get drafted, and bam! -famous. Well reality seemed to get in the way of my dreams. I did go to college; I managed to get a degree, and my baseball career looked promising. The scouts were watching me and I even made it to the minors. I was doing well there, the scouts predicted that I would be called up in no time, but a freak accident changed all that. The next thing I knew I was in rehab, and my baseball career was in the rear view mirror. Luckily, I had made some contacts in the sports industry during my time as a player. I was able to work as a sports agent for a time, but that life was lonely; always

There have been several events that have affected my life. there's times that life will hit you hard that will make you fall over but you will need to get back up and continue what you started. This is how i viewed myself with my ambitious journey of basketball. I was around seven years old when I was bored at home and I turned on the TV and was skipping through the channels and I wanted to see what I was going to be able to watch. I stopped at the sports channel for whatever reason and I remember that it was a Spurs game in the NBA (National Basketball Association). I was in shock seeing people jump all around being able to run from the court coast to coast being chased down by others trying to get the ball through the basket. I saw this particular player at the time on the opposing team Ray Allen from the Boston Celtics. This man had such a dominant presence on the court just getting the ball and being able to shoot the ball in any given time in whatever position he was in either it was going to be contested or open he gets the ball its an automatic scoring machine. This got me very fascinated and i began to start watching basketball since that day. I also wanted to try basketball wanted to play the position Ray allen played a shooting guard, one that is a spot up shooter and is in charge to score from a convertible distance away.

All your life you’ve dreamed big, but would your dream turn into reality? Imagine someone other than yourself putting it in your head what you're set out to be in life. Highschool football was everything to me. I've taken many sacrifices such as quitting my job; picking up unnecessary classes, and focusing on football it's self instead of other important responsibilities. These three things set me back, regrettably I became an athlete instead of a student athlete. With no desire to do anything else in life I always wondered when this is over what's next?

Imagine being a fourteen year old exploring channels on the television; nothing really catches your eye, but the sport stations, and this fascinates someone so much that they start thinking “I want to do this whenever I get older,” this exact thing happened to me. Working in the field as a sports writer has always been a dream of mine ever since I was young; watching professional analyst talk about the trending topics in sports on ESPN and reading local reporter’s sport articles in the newspaper. Paying attention to this at such a young age has helped me learn so much about this occupation, and I feel like this fits me best because of my love for learning and writing about sports.