My Dream In My Life

I was born in Independence, MO on November 14, 1999. I was born into a sports family. My great grandpa and grandpa started teaching me baseball as soon as I could hold one. My great grandma and grandpa babysat me while my Mom was at work. He would sit on the floor and roll the ball to me. When it got warmer, we would go outside and play on his deck. I have loved baseball ever since. Sports have always been my passion. I play baseball and basketball. I started playing basketball my freshman year of high school and started playing baseball as soon as I was ready. There was never a time in my life where I wanted to stop playing sports, never once. I have never had a coach that has made me want to quit playing. If I had a coach that hated me, I paid attention to myself and didn’t let him get to my head about playing the game. I am going to try so hard to go as far as possible with baseball. I want to play baseball for the rest of my life. It’s what I’ve wanted to do since I was in middle school. I’ve known what I wanted to do with my life for the longest time. Sports are “my everything” and

I went home full of excitement and quickly recounted to my mom the success I had that day at baseball. I went to bed that night with more confidence than I thought possible and looking forward to another day of baseball. Made my way through school that day visualizing my performance that afternoon for tryouts. With more excitement than nerve I began the second day of tryouts. Thursday we worked on throwing and catching skills, friday was batting. An area in which I struggled a little more than others but with confidence pouring out of me I stepped into the box. Even with the confidence boost working on my skill I struggled heavily and was not happy with my performance. So trying to keep my confidence up I tried to finish that day of tryouts but I could tell that the coaches were less pleased with my performance that day. There’s not a much faster way to be served a large slice of humble pie than to realize you may not be all that you once thought you were. So keeping that in mind I finished the day doing my best. When we gathered together to make final cuts I could feel my heart beating in

Basketball was my favorite sport growing up. I’ve played since I was little and I still play the game today. I played basketball at my elementary school, St. Cecilia, from Kindergarten till 8th Grade and also played AAU basketball for about 2 years before entering High School. Going into my freshmen year of High School, the first sport I played was basketball. Tryouts began in about the start of November and ended about 2 weeks after. I had made the Freshmen A team. I was excited and as the season progressed, we didn’t win many games but I still had fun playing. Nearing the end of the season, golf was another sport coming up that I also wanted to try and play. I say “try and play” because at the time, I was also going to play AAU basketball. I had set in my mind that I was going to play basketball for all of my four years of high school, but my parents pushed me to tryout for golf. When the basketball season ended, golf tryouts started. Tryouts lasted for about 2 weeks, and I made the JV team. When I found out I made the team, I was very surprised. I hadn’t put in the hard work as others before tryouts came around, but the coach saw potential in me and that I can become a great player. The coach saw so much potential in me, that every week, I kept progressing in skill and fine tuning my mechanics. Halfway through the season, about 4 or 5 weeks after I made the team, my coach gave me the chance to play with the Varsity Golf team for a couple days. I was excited and eager to

When I showed up to softball tryouts at the beginning of my senior year, I was convinced that I was going to be put on the junior varsity team for the fourth consecutive year. I was sure that I would never be moved up to varsity, regardless of how hard I played. My junior year I was embarrassed to be one of only two juniors on J.V. I was so self-conscious, that I had considered quitting so that I wouldn’t be the only senior not on varsity. However, I decided that quitting would be more humiliating than being on J.V. and forced myself to play my final season of softball. I showed up to tryouts the first week of school, and I played with every ounce of effort that I had. When teams were announced, I was legitimately shocked to find out that I

Several years ago, I was talking to my late grandpa who had gone to see Hall of Famer, Ken Griffey Jr. give a speech to some young children. After his speech, a dad stood up and asked “Mr. Griffey, you and I have something in common. I have been playing baseball all my life just like you. We are about the same age and we even come from the same hometown. The only difference between us is that you are a celebrated All- Star ballplayer, and I-- despite decades of hard work-- have never been able to play past college ball. This breaks my heart. I have dedicated my whole life to baseball, but to no avail. My spirit has been completely diminished by all the rejection and disappointment. I was wondering if you have any advice for me, but please do not just dismiss my question and tell me to persevere. I have heard that too many times and

I started on the high school football team and didn’t do too bad. I ended up getting all district defensive back which was good to have. I also started on the high school basketball team. This was a pretty good year we didn’t do to bad but got beat out in regionals. It was one of the most painful times of my life because it meant a lot to me and the team. I couldn’t believe it happened. We worked so hard. A good thing about it is that I improved and did better that year. I also tried a crazy thing which was to play baseball. I have never played baseball in my life nor did I like it. I went ahead and tried it out anyways. I enjoyed it but I was not good at it. I couldn’t seem to find the ball in the outfield. I was a decent pitcher and batter though. The best part about baseball was the bus ride I enjoyed them a

The next year as a junior I tried out for the varsity team I thought I deserved to make the team because I was fast and a strong fielder. Throughout tryouts I felt like I was doing great When I found out that I got cut I was angry and sad, but I didn’t let my emotions get to me.

February 3rd 2013 was tryouts for the high school baseball team. I can remember I marked it on my calendar at home in early fall of 2012 and I worked hard every day so I could be my best and make the team. I remember counting down the days witch felt like for ever and ever. Then the day hit when I had to go out onto the field and show the coaches what I was made for. Before me and the other freshman’s had to be on the field we all were in the field house and seating around waiting on the coach to come and tell us to come outside. I remember all the older kids talking bad on me, they were saying " wow the coaches must have lost it letting you try out for the team”. I told myself to just let the be the fuel to your fire and go out there and be the

In life you have to experience difficulties before you will ever experience success. I have always loved baseball. I started playing as a kid and continued into my high school years. During this time, I experienced frustration and eventually happiness came. Throughout this story I wasn’t focused on one moment, but all of the moments leading up to the signing for my college. The main experiences took place in many places, Chicago, Harrisburg, and West Frankfort. Playing baseball is a family event for me. My family supports me and is always there to cheer me on. These moments are so important to me is because I spent my entire life working to be signed by a college.

Over the winter I play hockey, I run track in the spring, and then play baseball over the summer. This summer, was a very good opportunity to show my leadership. I played baseball, and started varsity every game. I played second base and had a fielding percentage of .933 as a Sophomore. I had a batting average of .219. While baseball playoffs were going on, I was also roguing—the removal of inferior or defective plants or seedlings from a crop— and detasseling. After winning three district games and one substate game, we made it to Principal Park. I helped my team make it to the Iowa State Baseball tournament for the second year in a row. At the tournament we lost in the first round but we played as hard as we could, and saw a lot of hope for the next baseball

The summer of 2016 was one baseball season that will never escape my mind. Unfortunately, breaking my elbow was the last straw- so I thought. The problem with last summer was I could not stay healthy or happy. That was until my coach came over and flipped my declaration. He pushed me to go back out and encouraged me to play the game of baseball which I admire! My dad was another inspiration for me to achieve my goals I could not stay cheerful and became depressed. It seemed everything became serious. I eventually became determined to get back onto the field. I was never a guy to hit the ball far, and I always joked about hitting my first home run, but that joke became a reality.

I was good enough to make the team, but not good enough to start, and it was made sure that I knew this. At some practice early in the season, it was decided that I would be the scapegoat for the team’s insecurity. I was given the nickname ‘E6’ which means error on the shortstop. Every time I made a mistake, a chant of E6 rang out, eating at my confidence until all that was left was crumbs that could just be swept off the table. Even the coach joined in on the beratement. This caused me to enter into a season long slump, the worst of my life. It was this nightmare season that nearly caused me to give up the game I

When I was a freshman in high school, I tried out for the Minnesota High Performance Hockey Team. I was so excited that I got invited to try out because I knew this is where all of the best players in the state came together to play hockey. After the tryout process, I anxiously awaited the news of whether or not I made the team. A couple days later, I got the tryout results. I was devastated that I did not make the team. After I thinking about it for a few days, I decided that I was going to work extremely hard and make the team the next year. I put forth my best effort at all of my different practices, and put in extra time outside of practice to work towards my goal. Sophomore year tryouts came, and once again, I was determined to make the

I had to let go of my dream of becoming a professional baseball player. I was filled with feelings of lethargy and emptiness, but in time those feelings gave way to a new type of strength in me; I began reflecting on myself objectively and decided to make the best of the remaining two years of high school.

From the time I was able to walk I wanted to be a professional baseball player. I always fantasized it being game seven of the world series, with my team down three runs, the bases loaded with two outs, and I was up to bat. Of course every single time I fantasized about this, which was a lot I might add, I knocked a 400 foot home run in the left field bleachers to win the world series. I played in numerous amounts of wiffle ball games with my brother, sister, and my dad in backyard even when I was only two years old and would run the bases backwards. By the way, my family is super competitive, so there were some intense games in my backyard. Baseball has been my love since day one. The word “ball” was even my first word. I have played in probably a billion baseball games in my life and I have not regretted one second of it. I have had an amazing career playing and I am truly blessed for the ability I have been given, but I know I will never actually be able to