The “4 C’s” in College and Beyond
With the softball season underway, this year will be the last time many players suit up with their school colors. The seniors want to make their senior year the best it can be with the probability of competing after college very low.
Unlike some of the other sports, the softball players aren’t going to be leaving school with the hopes of landing a big professional contract or with hopes of playing in the Super Bowl or the Baseball World Series.
Playing in the Women’s College World Series, which is held in Oklahoma City, is the ultimate competition in many careers. That is, if your team qualifies and ultimately earns a berth as one of the eight that ends up at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.
Between now and then, however, a lot can happen. Players could get injured and maybe miss the rest of their senior year. Or their team doesn’t qualify for the College World Series and they have to watch the competition tuned in to ESPN.
Competition on the field is important and is one of the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award criteria. How well you play and how well your team plays will determine what kind of season your team has. You hope it is good enough to earn a berth of course in the NCAA College World Series.
If your team comes up short, don’t be dismayed. Only eight teams make it to Oklahoma City—softball’s version of Omaha, Nebraska, but if you played the best you could, then there is nothing else you can ask of yourself.
The competition doesn’t end on the field either. It continues in the classroom and it’s another of the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award criteria. What you do in the classroom to maintain your eligibility will determine if you will remain a member of your college or university’s softball team. Fall short in the classroom and you not only let yourself down but your teammates as well. Letting down yourself and your teammates in your senior year would certainly be an embarrassment and something you wouldn’t be proud of - your teammates are counting on you to be one of the senior leaders on the team. It takes a person of character to stay with it and make your senior year the best it can be and fulfill your responsibilities to your team and yourself.
What you do in the classroom your senior year also will have an impact on whatever career you choose in the future. Having the discipline to play the sport is one thing, but having the discipline to maintain your grades is equally important.
Besides classroom and competition, there is community involvement—the third Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award criteria. The people in your community have followed your team and it’s important to give back to the community that has supported you and your teammates throughout your college career.
After graduating from college and deciding the career path you’ll take, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award criteria will be just important in the real world as in college. You will have competition in the work place plus you will be living in a community that you will want to contribute to and give back to as you did in the college community. Your education and what you learned in college will follow you throughout your working career.
Only one college or university will ultimately end up the national champion at the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, but doing your best in the classroom and on the field, coupled with giving back to your community, gives everyone a chance to be a champion.
