In all my years of playing softball, I have incorporated all of the lessons I have been taught through softball into my daily life, and I have used them to help others in my community. Softball is a sport that is impacted not only by collaboration but leadership and sportsmanship. I have had to take on leadership roles in school, my job, and my volunteer work with my dad's softball organization. In addition, I have had to use teamwork in those environments. To be successful in everything I do, I have had to embody the many lessons that have carried my life. Being a leader is not easy. Leadership requires effective communication, understanding of your peers, and showcasing good qualities you want your followers to maintain. For example, while in high school, I had many opportunities to tutor my classmates because I could always understand the material. Of course, I had to be able to teach them to understand the subject while maintaining a humbleness that would be respected; I had to be a role model that would inspire them to be more. In my job as an Umpire, I have to be able to consistently instill the rules of softball and baseball while being respectful to the coaches and families. Also, as a volunteer travel softball coach, I must always be a role model for young players so they can learn the qualities that I have. Teamwork is not just something that I use on the field. I always use collaboration when I am in school or working with other Umpires. During school projects, I always make sure to listen to others' ideas as well as communicate my own. I always try to contribute as much as I can to the projects, and I help my fellow collaborators. When I am umpiring, I work with another umpire to make the right decision. When I volunteered at my church, I made sure to contribute one hundred percent effort so that the task at hand was completed because I knew that the children would benefit from an engaging summer camp experience. While playing softball, sportsmanship is an essential quality. It is more than having a positive attitude when you lose. It is about giving an effort, respecting and supporting others, having integrity, and maintaining discipline. These qualities apply when I am in school, working, coaching, and throughout my daily activities. If I didn't have these qualities, I would not be the successful person I am today. As it is well known, sports require leadership, teamwork, and sportsmanship. I have embodied these traits in school, my job, the field, and other aspects of my life. I have to lead and respect others, contribute my abilities, and showcase what a good person should be like. In the future, I will continue to use these qualities to build the life I always wanted for myself and others. In addition, the world needs more healthcare workers, and I believe that I would bring a lot of great qualities to my community if I were to become a Sports Physician. I could provide care to injured patients as well as give them the comfort they need. I want to be able to use my skills for something important, and I would be able to do so with this scholarship. Finally, I would be eternally grateful for anything I receive, and I will continue to strive to bring some light to this world.

A long time ago, when I was little, I used to be scared to sleep at night. I would always be afraid of the shadowed figure I could see leering over the top bunk of my and my sister's, who became my sister from my adoption, bed. The funny thing was, that shadow was not my sister's. She was always at her father's house when the shadow was around, and it had always lingered. I had always thought it was my overactive imagination as I got older, but just about a year ago, I feared it was not. I was a troubled child growing up and became more troubled when my mother died. Months before she died, she had given me to my uncle, who then adopted me. He then was considered my "father" ever since then, and his family became mine. I believe it was then that my condition worsened. I saw shadows every night and saw them in the corners of my eyes during the day. Eventually, when I was in late middle school, was when I became delirious and more troublesome. I had hurt my family in ways that I wished I could take back. I always believed that everyone was after me and that I was alone and defenseless. I was mean, untrustworthy, and spiteful. In addition, I would see a particular figure in the trees; someone who I had feared as a little kid. The creature was Slenderman. Of course, I only believed it was real as a naive child, but seeing the thing as a shadow terrified me. Luckily, I was able to get used to the constant paranoia of living in the woods, and I got used to seeing the figure of my fears. Later on, in high school, I started to hear whispers in my ears. I mostly ignored them to the point where I couldn't make out what was said. When I was a late freshman, in addition to my other issues, self-consciousness and doubts settled in. I tried to drown it out with my good grades and softball, but nothing worked. Then, my adoptive parents divorced at the beginning of my sophomore year, which hurt as well. After months of keeping my problems to myself, I finally lashed out at the beginning of my junior year but in a horrible way. Without further details, to summarize, I had almost had the lives of my father and stepmother ruined. They had no choice but to put me in a Psychiatric hospital for two weeks. While I was there, they diagnosed me with a severe depressive disorder and said I also wanted attention. Unfortunately, they were quite wrong. Finally, in January of this year, I lashed out at myself. My father and stepmother rushed me to the hospital due to the blood that covered my legs. This time, the hospital transported me to a different facility. I stayed there for five days, and I had better care there than the first time. The psychiatrist had diagnosed me with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. When I was sent home, I was prescribed with a medicine that had been so helpful in my recovery. I got back into playing softball and was able to earn an athletic scholarship with Albany State University. Now, I am able to live life with the heavy weight off my shoulders because my mental illness does not harm me or anyone else anymore. My mental illness surely destroyed a lot of good things in my life, but it will not destroy my future and what I plan to do.

Who's depression is that? I think I can tell I can see it in her eyes, she is not well She tries to keep it all inside But only I know, she wants to die I can see she lies late at night Doing all she can to put up a fight All the struggles of staying sane All the pressure causes her pain I can see during her days She never has anything to say All the disguises and covering up All the signs that her life is tough I can see when she's with friends She wants nothing more than the end All the pain and so much strife All the yearning for more in life Who's depression is that? That girl is me In my reflection, that's what I see She tries to keep it all inside But only I know, she wants to die.

Everyone knows that losing a parent is hard. When I was six years old, in September 2011, my mother gave my older brother and me to our uncle. My brother had already been staying with my uncle for almost a year. I was only supposed to have stayed with him for a few months, for my mother was supposed to go to rehab to cleanse herself for good. Little did we know, things were not going to go as planned. For three months, everything was fine. My brother and I went to school while my mother was figuring out how to provide for us. My aunt and uncle provided us with everything we needed, and life seemed to be a dream. I had never had a real birthday party until that October. In all honesty, that was the best seventh birthday a girl could ask for. Also, my brother and I received the best parenting he had ever received. Knowing the environment we grew up in, my uncle knew that we needed guidance. My brother and I had different fathers, and they were not in the picture. As our mother came and went, our family stepped in. Finally, everything was great, but not for long. On December 6, 2011, my mother was hit by a driver under the influence of alcohol. Her death shattered our whole family. I can still remember the day when my aunt had told me she died. I had been in my cousin's room when my aunt walked in. I was sitting on my cousin's bottom bunk while watching television, for she was at her father's house (My uncle is not her father). My aunt looked down at me, and she told me about the news in the easiest way she could. My little mind could not comprehend that she was gone, and it is still hard for me 11 years later. A few days after the news, we held a funeral for her. The memory is vague, but that is when I said goodbye. For a few years after her death, my aunt and uncle had been fighting my biological father for custody of me because I was too young. My brother had been too old to be adopted, and his father had passed away as well as our mother. Living with our closest family was his only choice. After years of battling my aunt and uncle officially were my adopted parents when I was in 5th grade. Of course, I had been okay with the situation because my uncle had truly been my father figure. I had already been calling him "dad" since I had been six years old, and I started to call my aunt "mama." My now eight-year-old cousin and twenty-two-year-old cousin had already become my brother and sister as well. All throughout my adopted childhood, I had been playing travel softball. Of course, my adopted father had been my travel coach because he had played. My grades were perfect, I had everything, and my family seemed happy. As before, everything was great until it was not. In November of 2020, my parents started the divorce process, and it affected me gravely. Despite these past few years, I am now committed to Albany State on a softball scholarship and pursuing my dreams.