#14 - Growing Up Through America's Pastime

I love to play baseball. Playing baseball for four years in high school presented me with opportunities of self-improvement beyond the sport of baseball itself. I learned through the rigors of high school baseball to drive my capacity to achieve, to overcome setbacks, and to provide leadership to others.

Playing on a team with a history of high achievement, in a very competitive league created a challenging opportunity for success. As one of the starting pitchers on the team, I often pitched against talented opponents. When failure arose, I practiced even harder striving for improvement in my skill and the ability to raise my performance to even higher levels. This realization and dedication to improving taught me to persevere, in turning weaknesses into strengths, while constantly striving for success despite arising disappointments.

As I progressed through the baseball program, I was expected to be a leader. For instance, during my sophomore year one teammate was often bullied for his inexperience. Rather than join the debasing of his morale, I uplifted him, which lead to the team changing their view of him and encouraging rather than degrading him. Through this experience and multiple other leadership situations on and off the field, I learned compassion and further developed communication skills.

The rigorous experiences of baseball have led to significant personal growth. The further development of consistent perseverance, communication, leadership, and personal drive for improvement has positioned me well for success in college and beyond.

The good ole' days.