This past summer, I was fortunate to be selected to an elite team of baseball players from Washington, Oregon, Montana, and Idaho to compete in the Baseball Northwest Championship Tournament in Oregon. This would prove to be one of the most significant experiences of my life and would have a profound impact on me and for my future.

My entire life has been devoted to excelling in the classroom and in athletics. My family has always been involved in sports. My father and grandfather have played, taught and coached at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. My grandpa played professionally for the Chicago White Sox Organization, then coached basketball and baseball at the collegiate level for over fifty years. In 1984, my father was drafted professionally and played five years for the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres Organizations. After completing his professional baseball career in America, he played for the Neptunis Yankees Major League team in Holland.

Education has also been a priority for my family, as my grandfather has a Doctor’s Degree, and my father has a Master’s Degree plus 90 hours of additional graduate work. I hope to be able to follow in their footsteps and attain the same level of athletic and academic achievement. The opportunity to participate in the Baseball Northwest Tournament was a special honor, although one that I was very anxious about.

Upon arriving with my family at the tournament site, I was excited and awed to see two beautiful, back to back, identical lighted Astroturf high school baseball fields that would have been the envy of any college or minor league baseball team in the country. The opening ceremony packed the grandstands with spectators, professional baseball scouts, recruiters, and junior/senior college baseball coaches. I was a little intimidated and overwhelmed. The scene sent