Would I Play in College?
My only absolute in high school was that I would definitely attend college. The question was if I would play baseball, which I loved. I had no idea how to seek opportunities to play baseball in college. As a freshman and sophomore I received college brochures, questionnaires, and letters but I rarely addressed them. Then, as a junior, things exploded and every other thought I had was, “Where am I going to go to college?” I went from not thinking about college to my parents, friends, and coaches bombarding me with questions about decisions that would affect my entire life.
Then, I had the idea that if I attended baseball camps at universities I was interested in, I would be discovered by the coaching staff. My dad tried to be very involved, but his guidance was not enough. I looked to my high school coach and found very little help since he was busy with teaching and coaching multiple sports. He wrote a letter of recommendation for me, but I only sent it to a few colleges and received very little feedback. I visited a few universities my senior year, yet I still was not receiving the attention I felt I deserved.
I narrowed my list down to a few places, including a junior college, a Division I program where I could walk on to and an NAIA college. My parents suggested I take the opportunity to start right away with the university that offered the highest academics, which led me to Indiana Wesleyan University. Making that decision was a great stress reliever, but I was not entirely happy with it at first. I felt like I did not take the opportunity explore all of my options and felt pressured and rushed to go somewhere.
I ended up being extremely lucky and grateful for my decision because IWU ended up being a great choice. The opportunity to play early and often, as well as the education I received, was fantastic.
