Posts

Dear Last Inning,

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Written by: Francesca Sikora Edited by: Joshua Hicks My dad forced me to go. I played in-house league growing up and it was all about the post-game snacks. One night we got a call, a travel team was short players and asked me to fill in. My dad answered for me, “yes she’ll be there”. I was annoyed. Playing in the games I did pretty well and when they invited me back to continue with them for the summer I was not interested, but my dad was persistent, and now I was playing travel softball. I was the worst one on the team. As an unathletic 13-year-old, I was moved up to a 16u team. It was my first year of travel ball and trying to develop into a teenager while competing with girls way older than me tore me apart. I used to excel while playing with girls my age, I was tall, strong confident. And now I’m the bottom of the barrel fighting to fit in. I couldn’t throw as hard, hit as hard, run as fast. I never wanted to go to practice, it seemed like a useless event that would onl...
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Dear Motherless child,

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Written by: Darian Watson Edited by: Joshua Hicks Dear motherless child, I know things are rough in the beginning; it can all be really confusing. Thoughts such as “Why me?” start to surface. Your emotions get distorted and at times you’ll even question your own existence. To others, it seems like you’re just mad at the world but the truth is, you get highly upset or frustrated because you don’t understand it all. The pain never seems to go away and it seems like your mind may never find peace because as you look around even the slightest things seem to remind you of your mother. But you should view it as though they’re now at peace. Instead of feeling sorrow, you should feel joy for the one that has passed over. For they no longer have to feel pain and they’re days of suffering are now over. Don’t allow yourself to drown in depression or shut yourself away from the world. You may need time alone to allow yourself to fully accept the loss and progress past it, but don’t shut out or...
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Ladies first: Parents just don't understand!

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Written by: Rachel Ruiz Edited by: Joshua Hicks Growing up and even to this day a saying has and continues to be said amongst the women of my family. “Put your big girl panties on and deal with it” they’d say. When it came down to an “unfair” situation or having to do something I simply didn’t want to do, I would hear this saying across most contexts primarily from my mother and grandmother. To me, this saying presented itself with a very negative connotation as it was a means of their having power and control over me in situations where I should’ve had an opinion and a voice. When I told my grandmother that I thought I would benefit from taking a gap year between high school and college and told her that I wasn’t ready to go to University right away and might benefit from a community college program prior to University, the age-old saying proceeded to be said, “put your big girl panties on and deal with it. You’re going to an out of state University right after high school!” ...
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Dear Little Sis,

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Dear Little Sis,                 Let me just start off by saying, your journey has been so fun to watch. From the time you were playing for “Tennessee” in Manasquan-Brielle Little League to leading your team to a state championship victory last year as a junior, it’s has been nothing but a pleasure to be a supporter and really for all intensive purposes, a fan. Your determination, competitive drive, and mental tenacity was something I always drew inspiration from while I was an athlete myself. It’s funny that you always say how much you look up to me I often find myself looking up to you for the person that you are because you are reaching your fullest potential despite obstacles along the way. There was never a point in time where I didn’t think you’d make it to the highest collegiate level; your talent combined with your work ethic and Mom and Dad’s commitment to ensuring you reached your dream, was always...
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