“I grew up playing baseball so I thought I had it all figured out.”
Noah Jordan is a former senior from Woodside High School who was an exemplary baseball player. He took a moment to share a few words with me about how student athletes should stay focused on their grades no matter what.
“I grew up playing baseball so I thought I had it all figured out.” when I started high school on the JV team. I thought it would be easy to balance school and sports but I fell into that trap that lots of athletes fall into. I liked the sport more than the schoolwork so I dedicated more of my time to playing ball than I did to studying or doing homework. And that really didn’t help my grades. So my freshman year, my grades tanked and I really wish I would have listened to everyone around me when they told me to focus on schoolwork and that sports should be secondary to my education. By the time junior year rolled around, I started to understand the importance but it was too late because was scrambling to bring my GPA up but it was so messed up from freshman year, I thought I wouldn’t have a chance. It was around the time that we were being asked to seriously consider college, so I freaked out a little bit and really worked hard to get my grades on track. By my senior year, I started to make it work out of habit. I made it a habit to prioritize my schoolwork, but that didn’t make baseball any less important to me. I was learning to balance my responsibilities and even though I learned it pretty late in the game, it’s still important to spread that wisdom. You never know who needs it.”
Noah is currently attending Radford University on a baseball scholarship, and is looking forward to the 2018-2019 season. By Amanda Howard