My name is Drake McIver and I hope that name will mean something to the sports world one day. My goal is to continue my baseball career past high school and college. I am already one step closer as I have committed to play baseball at Cedar Valley College this upcoming Fall season. Getting there has not always been easy. I was diagnosed with dyslexia in elementary school. Although I feel as though I am smart, and I currently hold a 3.8 GPA, I have had my struggles to keep my grades up. Reading does not come as easy to me as it does to others and of course, reading is a big part of learning in every classroom. Through assistance by the school administration, my parents, and a drive to succeed, I have managed to not let my dyslexia hold me back. I have consistently received good grades. I have even spent several days reading to elementary kids with my football team. Although I was nervous to take part in something like that, I am glad I did it and was able to get through reading out loud in a public setting. Back to my baseball career, my dyslexia could have have been detrimental to me not getting to play high school baseball with the "no pass no play" rule. However, with hard work and determination, I kept my grades up and while other teammates had to miss games due to not passing, I thankfully was not one of them. Aside from my dyslexia, I have had another event that I have had to come through. My junior year of baseball I was not a starter and there were many times in the beginning of the season I didn’t even get to touch the field much. It was very frustrating as I have worked hard and trained hard, as well as had been playing baseball since I was 5 years old. About midway through the season, several players were kicked off of the team for bad choices that they had made. Their unfortunate decisions opened up an opportunity for me. I began playing more and ultimately was awarded with 1st Team All District honors for my hitting. I also, as mentioned previously, have committed to play baseball in college. I have had a couple of reasons to be discouraged and to give up, but I stuck with it and it all worked out in the long run. Adversity is something that most people will have to deal with at some point in life. You can either let it bring you down or you can keep moving forward and work past it.

Being an athlete in Royse City district is not just about playing a sport. As a current Senior at Royse City High School, I have played baseball and football all 4 years. Not only do we have youth night, especially for baseball, where we invite the younger kids in the city leagues to join us on the field for pictures, but we we also participate in other activities for the elementary schools. The last few years we have helped kids out of their vehicles during morning drop offs, contributed to a toy drive, and visited elementary classes a couple of times a month during football season to read to the classes. Reading to the elementary kids was something I was nervous about at first because I have dyslexia. I was afraid I would mess up the words while reading but it actually was not hard at all and I ended up enjoying it. After reading the book, which was sports related, the kids would get a chance to ask me questions. We would then take pictures with the kids and I think the kids really liked when we were there. This experience has helped me somewhat overcome my nervousness when reading. I do well in the classroom and have a 3.8 GPA, but actually having to read in front of someone is something I probably would never have chosen to do. But now I know I can do it so it not only helped me out, but it gave the younger kids an opportunity to meet a high school athlete and ask questions. As for my future, I have committed to play baseball at Cedar Valley College and then have hopes to move up to a D2 or D1 after receiving an Associate's degree. My career goal is to become a personal athletic trainer. I have payed sports since I was 3 (baseball, football, soccer, and basketball) and can honestly not think of any other career, other than playing in the MLB, that I would rather do. With my knowledge of different sports and a college education in a physical related field, I can come back and work with athletes of all ages to provide training, guide them on proper techniques, and help them succeed. I hope Royse City athletics continues to visit with the elementary kids for many years to come. It is beneficial for both the younger kids and the athletes.