My name is Nora Johnson. I have played softball for almost eleven years. I am currently playing travel ball with Premier Fastpitch National. I will finish my senior season of school ball at Metamora Township High School in the spring. Next year I am continuing my softball career at Maryville University in St. Louis Missouri. Softball is the sport that has touched my life in many ways that I didn't think were possible. This sport has seen me through some of my toughest times. Softball was there when my school friends weren’t, softball was there when I was struggling in every other aspect of my life. This sport has taught me how to persevere through the hardest times. Softball has been one of the biggest blessings of my life and taught me so many important life skills. The game of softball has also brought me closer to the most important people in my life. Softball taught me how to trust the people that are closest to me. Softball is a sport where you do not thrive and have fun in the sport if you are not trusting your teammates. Softball is 100% a team sport. Softball has shown me that life is like this too. Going through life knowing how to work with other people and trust them is one of the gifts softball has given me. Another gift this sport has given me is the friendships that are going to last a lifetime. My softball sisters over the years have become family. I have met so many different girls from different towns, and states that I would have never known without softball. Softball has also shown me that family can come in many different forms that include not actual family. There are many teammates I would go to in a split second because I think of them as family. Along with just as many coaches that I would call if I ever needed anything. I have learned that in life people will turn their back on you, for the silliest of things, but not your softball family. My Softball family has stood by me when people turned their backs on me and taught me the value of true friendship. One of the greatest blessings softball has given me is my relationship with my sister, Rebecca. My sister is five years older than me, and getting to watch her play a sport that she loved, and dedicated so much of her life to, instilled in me a passion for the game. I strongly believe that softball was the thing in common my sister and I needed to build our relationship. She is my best friend, and one of my biggest supporters. She takes the time out of her schedule to support me in whatever I do in my life. She sacrifices sleep to watch my games. She was there when I made the decision to continue my academic and softball career at Maryville University. I have asked for her advice on life decisions. I have watched her go through some of the hardest times in her life and persevered. She’s taught me to work hard in everything I do. Without our connection through softball, I am not sure we would be as close. I see softball as my first true love for something. The ups and downs the sport has seen me go through is remarkable. This sport is truly something special, and I would not trade playing this sport for anything. Most importantly, I would not be the person I am today without this beautiful sport called softball.