Well.. this ongoing flirtation I’ve had with the real world has hopped on a train and slammed right into me, and on its way it made a few pit stops, taking out every indecisive, nervous, and scared senior on its way. I remember standing on the black top at recess playing red rover and talking with the girls about how far away graduation was. I remember being the “big kids” in sixth grade, top of the totem pole, only to realize we’ll slide right back down to the bottom when the back side of summer approached. When the first day of senior year came, the first thought I had was that I would never do this again. I would never walk through the halls of Timpanogos on the first day of school. I would never be a senior in high school again. This year has been the greatest year of my high school career. New friends, teams, boys, jobs, and classes pushed me into a new life of the unknown. There is no turning back now, it’s done, it’s over, and I don’t regret a thing. However, I know that if I didn’t dedicate at least a little bit of my time to thank some of the people who have carried me through the last 18 years, I would regret it.
Mom and Dad, If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here. Literally. I can’t thank you enough for all the support you’ve given me throughout the years. Not only with school, and life, but especially with softball. Thank you for being at every game, being the loudest, taking my stats, filming my plays, pitching to me, hitting to me, and driving me to all parts of Utah to find the right bat. I don’t know many people who have had the parental support in their sports as I have. Thank you for teaching me how to respect, love, and enjoy life. Thank you for teaching me everything that I know, and for teaching me that although softball is my life, it isn’t my life, and there’s more in life. Thank you for spoiling me, and for giving me more than a lot of kids dream of, even if I didn’t show the appreciation that you deserve. Thank you for putting up with my bad attitudes, and for being so proud of me. Thank you for everything, thank you for being the perfect parents for ME. I love you, and I’m going to miss you. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to experience life, and giving me the opportunity to achieve my dreams.
Angie and Shalana, what can I say? We fight. We yell. We argue. We laugh, we cry, we dance, and we sing. Thank you for being there for me through everything. Thank you for staying up with me at night and talking about the future. Thank you for being at all my games, when I KNOW you have something better to do. Who knew watching your 4 foot nothing sister yelling at the umpires could be so entertaining. Angie.. thank you for teaching me everything I needed to know to make it in high school. Thank you for giving me advice and for telling me what’s right. Thank you for believing in me in everything, and for sticking up for me whenever I was down. Thank you for taking time out of your day to talk to me on the phone, because you’re too far away to drive home. Thank you for cheering me on, and for making me laugh, and for bugging me so bad to the point that I can’ t help but laugh. I love you, and you better move to Hawaii. Shalana.. thank you for being stubborn like me. Thank you for listening to me when I try to help you, even though you want to get mad at me. Thank you for supporting me at all my games, and for carrying my bat bag even though I say I got it. Thank you for enjoying my games, even though you pretend like you’re just there to get a tan. Thank you for making me late to school, and for letting me drive you around, even though it gets annoying, I’m glad we got to have this last year in high school together. You made this year amazing, I loved sharing the high school experience with you, and for seeing you grow in a new world.
Frank Bramall. Thank you for being my coach for all these years. Thank you for believing in me, when no one else did. Thank you for showing me my potential, and not taking no for an answer. Thank you for puling me aside before games and telling me how much you believe in me. Thank you for giving me advice about school, and boys, and family. Thank you for being more than a coach. You taught me about life, and respect, and about the game that I love. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.
My friends and teammates. Thank you for everything. Thank you for being there for me through the toughest of times. Thank you for being there when I needed you, and for supporting me in everything. I’m going to miss you all so much. Thank you for making me laugh, and staying up late to talk about our lives and what we’re going to do in 5 years. Thank you for being a good influence on me, and for showing me the kind of person I want to be. Thank you for driving me crazy, and for being honest with me when I needed honesty. And for my teammates.. thank you for being there, and having my back through everything. You have literally become my family, and I am so thankful for the hours and hours I’ve spent with you on and off the field, and all the memories we have had. Thank you for pushing me to my limits, and helping me become the athlete I am today. I would not love the sport like I do if it weren’t for you.
Thank you to everyone who has supported and loved me throughout my life. I am so thankful for all the support I have gotten, and for all those who believe in me. I am going to miss everyone so much here in Utah, but I hope to keep the relationships and friendships through everything. And to the youngins.. don’t take anything for granted. Be respectful, and be honest, and be true to yourself. Don’t let anyone take your values, and ideas away from you. Live a happy life, away from drugs, alcohol, and peer pressure. Happiness is a choice, a destination, it’s a mood. It’s not something that you have to wait for, you can be happy if you choose to be happy, it’s YOUR choice, not anyone else’s. Get high on life. Not drugs. And don’t stress out about the future. Do what you love, get good grades, and work hard in high school, and the rest will fall into place. Good luck class of 2011, Do good things, and win we will. Here's to the future, cause we're done with the past.
Mom and Dad, If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here. Literally. I can’t thank you enough for all the support you’ve given me throughout the years. Not only with school, and life, but especially with softball. Thank you for being at every game, being the loudest, taking my stats, filming my plays, pitching to me, hitting to me, and driving me to all parts of Utah to find the right bat. I don’t know many people who have had the parental support in their sports as I have. Thank you for teaching me how to respect, love, and enjoy life. Thank you for teaching me everything that I know, and for teaching me that although softball is my life, it isn’t my life, and there’s more in life. Thank you for spoiling me, and for giving me more than a lot of kids dream of, even if I didn’t show the appreciation that you deserve. Thank you for putting up with my bad attitudes, and for being so proud of me. Thank you for everything, thank you for being the perfect parents for ME. I love you, and I’m going to miss you. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to experience life, and giving me the opportunity to achieve my dreams.
Angie and Shalana, what can I say? We fight. We yell. We argue. We laugh, we cry, we dance, and we sing. Thank you for being there for me through everything. Thank you for staying up with me at night and talking about the future. Thank you for being at all my games, when I KNOW you have something better to do. Who knew watching your 4 foot nothing sister yelling at the umpires could be so entertaining. Angie.. thank you for teaching me everything I needed to know to make it in high school. Thank you for giving me advice and for telling me what’s right. Thank you for believing in me in everything, and for sticking up for me whenever I was down. Thank you for taking time out of your day to talk to me on the phone, because you’re too far away to drive home. Thank you for cheering me on, and for making me laugh, and for bugging me so bad to the point that I can’ t help but laugh. I love you, and you better move to Hawaii. Shalana.. thank you for being stubborn like me. Thank you for listening to me when I try to help you, even though you want to get mad at me. Thank you for supporting me at all my games, and for carrying my bat bag even though I say I got it. Thank you for enjoying my games, even though you pretend like you’re just there to get a tan. Thank you for making me late to school, and for letting me drive you around, even though it gets annoying, I’m glad we got to have this last year in high school together. You made this year amazing, I loved sharing the high school experience with you, and for seeing you grow in a new world.
Frank Bramall. Thank you for being my coach for all these years. Thank you for believing in me, when no one else did. Thank you for showing me my potential, and not taking no for an answer. Thank you for puling me aside before games and telling me how much you believe in me. Thank you for giving me advice about school, and boys, and family. Thank you for being more than a coach. You taught me about life, and respect, and about the game that I love. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.
My friends and teammates. Thank you for everything. Thank you for being there for me through the toughest of times. Thank you for being there when I needed you, and for supporting me in everything. I’m going to miss you all so much. Thank you for making me laugh, and staying up late to talk about our lives and what we’re going to do in 5 years. Thank you for being a good influence on me, and for showing me the kind of person I want to be. Thank you for driving me crazy, and for being honest with me when I needed honesty. And for my teammates.. thank you for being there, and having my back through everything. You have literally become my family, and I am so thankful for the hours and hours I’ve spent with you on and off the field, and all the memories we have had. Thank you for pushing me to my limits, and helping me become the athlete I am today. I would not love the sport like I do if it weren’t for you.
Thank you to everyone who has supported and loved me throughout my life. I am so thankful for all the support I have gotten, and for all those who believe in me. I am going to miss everyone so much here in Utah, but I hope to keep the relationships and friendships through everything. And to the youngins.. don’t take anything for granted. Be respectful, and be honest, and be true to yourself. Don’t let anyone take your values, and ideas away from you. Live a happy life, away from drugs, alcohol, and peer pressure. Happiness is a choice, a destination, it’s a mood. It’s not something that you have to wait for, you can be happy if you choose to be happy, it’s YOUR choice, not anyone else’s. Get high on life. Not drugs. And don’t stress out about the future. Do what you love, get good grades, and work hard in high school, and the rest will fall into place. Good luck class of 2011, Do good things, and win we will. Here's to the future, cause we're done with the past.
