With such an outstanding GPA and on-field success, you obviously do a great job navigating responsibilities. How do you do it? I have always been a pretty responsible person. Like I said before, my mother passed when I was 10 years old, and since then it has just been my dad, younger sister, and older sister with Down syndrome. It was my goal to set the greatest example for my younger sister and to make my dad proud. So taking on a lot of things has been my life for the last 11 years. Being in college and having so much on my plate is never easy, but I make a lot of sacrifices in order to get what I need done, done. Getting up at 5:15 a.m. for workouts most days and being busy with class and practice until 6 or 6:30 p.m. doesnât leave much room for me to complete homework. Any spare time I have is spent doing homework or studying. I believe if I put everything I have into what I have committed myself to, I will never regret the outcome because I will know that I did the best that I could. I have sacrificed quite a bit in my personal and social life in the past years for my commitments to academics and softball, but I believe that I have been given a great opportunity to receive a scholarship to go to school and I never want to do anything halfway or take my blessings for granted.
Talk about the softball teamâs amazing 2011 season. I still do not understand the magnitude of how awesome the season was. It was just our hardworking team doing everything possible to reach our goal. It was such a blessing to make it to the Womenâs College World Series and to see all of our hard work pay off was amazing. Any season has
its ups and downs, and last year we just hit the peak of our performance at the right time. Our entire team made the wonderful experience possible. Our coaches, director of operations, strength coach, athletic trainer, sports information director, student managers and all of our players all had a role in making it a great season. Years from now, I will look back at that team, and I will have nothing but a smile on my face. The entire experience of making it to the WCWS is something that I will never forget.
and it meant so much to me. I do everything possible to do well in my classes, and no matter how hard or how tired I get I always try to find a way to excel in academics. My mother always put school first because she told me that one day I might not be able to play ball anymore due to injury or something else, but I would always have my brains. I do my best to make her proud and to never forget what she taught me about life.
Talk about your academic experience at OSU and in the College of Education. I actually started out in the College of Engineering, but two months into my freshman year, I had already changed my major. I have always known the College of Education was where I needed to be. Most everyone I have met in this college has been so great and has a passion for teaching. They show how important education is, and they want us to take pride in our profession.
What did it mean to you to receive the NCAAâs Elite 88 Award? I actually hadnât even heard of the award. We were at the WCWS Banquet in Oklahoma City, and I was sitting next to my teammate Sarah Odom. The announcer started making an introduction about the Elite 88 and how it was given to the athlete with the highest GPA, and Sarah leaned over and said, âItâs going to be you.â Itâs kind of a joke on the team that I am the nerd and that I am always studying, but I definitely thought maybe one senior out of all the participants would have a 4.0 as well. When they did say my name, I was pretty surprised. I was very honored to receive the award,
What advice would you give someone who is considering majoring in education at OSU? I would explain my experiences here in the College of Education and tell them that the faculty is great and always there to help. I would tell them that it is also hard work, and they need to come prepared to work because majoring in education is important for shaping the generations to come
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