When I came to EMU in the fall of 2014, I was a skinny, nineteen-year-old kid who was hoping to do something that no one in my family has ever done before: play a sport at the collegiate level.

I was not heavily recruited out of high school and the schools that did have interest were all out of state, which was not what I was looking for in a college. I decided to come to EMU because it was only an hour from home and they had the area of study I wanted to do.

While being on the baseball team was not a guarantee at the time, I figured I would come in as a walk-on and see what happens. During that fall season, I was starting to doubt whether or not being a college athlete was right for me.

We were practicing for many hours every day — including on the weekends — and we were doing lots of conditioning, both of which I was not used to. I was able to find the willpower to keep going, and at the end of the fall season, I found out that I was on the team. It was one of the happiest moments of my life.

Four years later, as my college career comes to an end, things have not gone how I would have hoped, having only eight at-bats to date with all of them coming in blowouts. While it has not been ideal for me, as I always wanted to be a starter who contributed, I do not regret a single thing in my college career.

While playing games is a huge part of collegiate sports, I do not consider it the most important thing. During my time as a college athlete, I have learned to prepare myself for the real world by managing my time, as well as learning how to balance athletics with academics and my social life. Most importantly, I have met so many great people and have made some lifelong friends in the process. While the grind of a college athlete’s life can be difficult at times, having a great group of teammates year in and year out has made the grind worth every second.

My college athletic career has had its fair share of ups and downs, but just like life, you must find ways to overcome the downs while also enjoying the ups. While I may not have had a big impact on the field, I have always tried to make sure I leave a big impact off the field, whether it is in the dugout where I am cheering on my teammates and cracking jokes to keep them loose, or outside of baseball where I am always there to lend a helping hand and crack a joke to make someone’s day.

Now four years later and twenty-five pounds heavier in muscle, while I may not hold any school records or be inducted into the EMU athletic hall of honor, I hope I have been able to be a great teammate and a great friend, because in the end, that is what is more important.

Either way, whether I had eight at-bats or eight hundred at-bats, I am proud to say I was a college athlete at EMU.