Young. Naive. Passionate. We all started off as novice children. Not knowing how to throw a ball, spell a word, or pronounce “ridiculous”(at least I wasn’t able to). With time, those things started to become easier and we began to acquire new skills. Through grade school we suck up knowledge like a sponge, ready to take it all in. Some kids found math the easiest while others found English to be easy. However, school wasn't the only thing we were figuring out. Our small brains were working hard to find a passion, an impetus to succeed in something. Some found their passion before others, but I knew from a very young age that mine was softball.

Choosing softball as MY sport was not a careless decision. Growing up I was involved in multiple sports, all of which held a special place in my young heart. Despite my desire to be a multi-sport athlete, I was no Deion Sanders. As time went on, the 5 sports had shriveled to only 3, and then 2, and lastly 1. My decision stood between soccer and softball. 

“You have to pick, Chloe,” my dad said to me before the start of my High School career. 

Deep down I knew the right answer was softball, but the lingering memories of soccer and the many friends I had made along the way is what made this decision hard. Will I lose my friends? What if I end up not being the best at softball? What if I regret it? My mind was racing, I sat in silence until the words spilled out from between my lips,

“I choose softball!”

Relief washed over me in that instance and I knew it had to be the right decision. Softball brought me happiness, and in that moment I realized that soccer had become a way for me to have a social life, but it wasn’t MY sport, softball was. Years go by and softball is still here. 4 years through traveling softball and 3 years into Varsity I still know that I made the right decision. I have made many accomplishments throughout this journey, varsity as a freshman, second team all conference, first home run, and more. I found the thing that makes me happy, the thing I love, my passion.