LIFE: College – It Was Never Decided

“College – It was Never Decided”

After high school, I was lost.

I didn’t know where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do. Sure, I had a scholarship offer from Bevill State Community College for music, but music wasn’t my passion — it was just something I knew how to do. It was my backup plan.

My heart was on the baseball field.

I pinned all my hopes on a tryout at Bevill State in Fayette. That day, I gave it everything I had. Swing after swing, throw after throw — I walked off the field thinking, maybe, just maybe, this is my shot. But deep down, as the coach gathered us and spoke, I felt the air go out of the room.

“I have two scholarships,” he told us. “Some of you deserve one, but I can’t give them to everyone.”

Then, he looked right at me. His eyes met mine as he added, “My hope is some of you will go find a four-year school to play at and come back and rub it in my face.”

I knew what that meant. I wasn’t getting the call.

With no other tryouts lined up, no backup plan beyond a music scholarship I didn’t want, my dreams felt like they were slipping through my fingers.

Weeks passed. Then — a phone call. A number I didn’t recognize lit up my screen.

It was Coach Hatcher from Miles College.

He invited me to a tryout, and I remember wondering, is this real? I showed up, unsure of myself, carrying the sting of that last rejection. As I stood at the plate, swinging, the catcher — someone I’d never met — leaned in between pitches and said, “Dude, keep going hard. You’re doing a good job.”

For the first time in weeks, I felt a spark.

A week later, my phone rang again. It was Coach Hatcher — this time offering me a baseball scholarship. Before I could even process the words, I said yes.

In that moment, all I could think about was Bevill.

The tryout.

The coach’s challenge.

And here I was — with an offer in hand, ready to prove that I was good enough.

For the first time in a long time, it felt like life was finally falling into place.

But as I’d soon learn, even when everything seems “right,” life has a way of throwing speed bumps in your path.

To be continued…