Taking Risks, Discovering Strengths by Hailey

Taking Risks, Discovering Strengths by Hailey - January 2026 Scholarship Essay

In my sophomore year of high school, I was approached by one of my favorite teachers at school, He also happened to be one of the varsity baseball assistants. He proposed an interesting offer, the baseball team had graduated their previous managers and needed a new one. He informed me that this job would include helping the volunteers get ready to work concessions, set up the press box for the announcers and most importantly take stats for the team. I wasn’t sure if this was a job I was up for. The stats portion of the job in particular was intimidating to me. I was nervous that I would mess everything up or just simply not enjoy the job.
After taking some time to think about if this would be a good way to spend my spring and through persistent convincing from my teacher I finally decided that I would do it. I showed up to my first game nervous but ready to learn. I had watched a lot of baseball before but not from a statistical standpoint. He walked me through what I would be doing for the team and then then as the game began I started taking stats. It was definitely a learning curve at first. I made some mistakes but I learned from them. After a few weeks of doing stats I realized that I was actually good at data and analysis, a skill that I previously would not have thought I would have been good at. I also realized I was more organized than I had originally thought. I was able to keep track of so many different things at once while also managing other aspects of “game day”.
Volunteering for this job made me realize that I can do more than I am capable of and you don’t know if you’ll like something or be good at it until you give it a good honest try. Since being a manager, I now have a better understanding of how sports stats work and I have become interested in it. In my freshman year so far, I have been working in sports information. Without volunteering to be a manager I would not have been confident in my ability to work in this position. My organization skills are also so much better. I realized that I was good at this and since I have been able to grow and become even more organized.
Getting out of my comfort zone helped me realize strengths that I believe I otherwise would not have discovered. I have used these strengths more in my life since discovering them. I was able to take on more roles when I was captain of the gymnastics team. I am also better at memorizing numbers. I thank my role as baseball manager for many reasons but the skills it helped me discover will make me grateful for the opportunity.