Seeing college softball differently

[BrianMonk]

If she’s interested in that, at least at our local Juco, as long as she’s in the associate degree path, she still will be taking her Gen. Ed classes as well as some general medical field classes. Those would all transfer over to another related medical area degree. Not all would be wasted. It’s also less costly to make a change at a Juco as opposed to Big U, each class is typically far cheaper. A junior college is a wonderful place to start off if they are interested in the medical field. Lots of choices at bargain prices (comparatively speaking). Once you’re done, you can get a job (usually) or continue with additional schooling.

If any of my kids graduate in the top 10% of their class, it’ll be a struggle NOT to have them attend our local Juco. They get free tuition and there are a number of programs there that if you meet certain academic requirements, you get automatic acceptance into the University of Illinois. A place that can be very tough to get into. I could pay 2-years of tuition a (plus R&B) and they’d come out with a degree from the U of I. That’s tough to beat.

 

[glf0845]

Here is dad's thoughts. If she knows that's what she wants, great. If she goes to the Juco and becomes a paramedic my hat is off to her. I want her to understand being a medic is not the glamorous job we see on tv, my best friend who is one has told her 75% of calls are BS. People working the system, pill poppers trying to gain access to meds, old people who have pooped on themselves, people who use the ER as their primary healthcare provider, etc.

So if she goes to the Juco and a year or two into the program she decides, "it's not for me"? What then? Hope to transfer into a 4 year college and pretty much start all over? 6 years of schooling for a 4 year degree.

She has a good offer from a private D2 university. Do I push her to go that route and test the water, or let her go with her heart ( the way she feels now ) and invest the time into the EMT/medic program? Somebody hand me an aspirin.

I am a medic. It's a great profession and when you get bored or too old you can become a physician's assistant. We do 24 hour shifts and some people cannot handle it. I love it, even the BS calls, the paper work is easier.haha

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Now that I understand the bonus plan in NJ I do feel much better about paying 8x the amount of property tax my folks do in TX.

For folks outside of NJ a $250k dollar home comes with about a 7-8k tax bill every year. Yes I do wonder where it all goes.

News online says gas is $9.99 a gallon up there, in protest of a Russian oil company. Is that for real?

 

[3'sDad]

$8 a gallon at the named gasoline supplier. About $3.70-$3.90 at the other service stations.

What I want to know is where you located the $250,000 home that is habitable & in a decent public school sysytem ?

Our school district is above average, not outsytanding and our real estate taxes are 20% above your quoted number. We do not live in a McMansion by any means.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

$8 a gallon at the named gasoline supplier. About $3.70-$3.90 at the other service stations.

What I want to know is where you located the $250,000 home that is habitable & in a decent public school sysytem ?

Our school district is above average, not outsytanding and our real estate taxes are 20% above your quoted number. We do not live in a McMansion by any means.

We built our house in 2006. Property "value" is at a tad over $280,000. But we didn't put that much $$ into it, turn key 4000 sq feet / granite tops / 3 bed / 2 baths / open design house / upstairs just one big game room / marble tubs and showers / 27,000 gallon in ground pool / no carpet anywhere ( stained/decorated and scored concrete floors and hardwood ) / cost us $180,000 to build.

Looking back I wish I'd put in a half bath upstairs, plumbing is there, might do it later on.

Took me 2 years to design it and contract the work out. Saved me a ton, but took awhile to do it.

New homes in the $250,000 range behind us are about 2700-3000 sq ft. Nice homes. How does that compare to 250k homes up there??

The high school was a 8.0 out of 10 ranked by the state, 3 years ago when DD was a freshman. Think they have just under 1400 students.

Located just north of Memphis, Tipton County.

 

[GI Tom]

Excellent thread and I feel compelled to tell our story due to reading everyone's thoughtful words.

My DD is in her Sophomore year at a NAIA college with nearly a full ride from an array of scholarships. (Athletic, Academic, External) Started in rec ball at 8. At 10, she moved to competitive rec leagues and stayed there until 12. At that time she switched to TB and a 14U team. Played there until her freshman year in HS. Played 16U TB until her sophomore year and then 18U and 18U Gold her Junior and Senior years. She was also a 4 year HS Varsity player.

It was (and still continues to be) an amazing journey for her as well as my wife and I. Having been a prior crazy dad and coach (Coached or Asst Coached her teams through 18U) I can tell you the top things we have learned about the collegiate softball process:

1. Don't force your DD to play softball. She will decide if she wants to continue to the next levels as she hits them.
2. There is absolutely a college out there for almost ANY softball player who wants to play at that level. It may not be one you thought about prior to finding it either.
3. There is nothing wrong with playing at any school (D1, D2, D3, NAIA, JUCO) if she is dedicated to playing. Do not get hung up in the designations. Take each school on what they can offer from both an academic perspective and athletic perspective.
4. When other folks talk about their DD's and scholarships, schools, etc., do not take it as gospel. There is no cookie cutter way to obtaining a scholarship or a spot on a collegiate team. There are definitely similarities, but no one specific method always works. Research, research, research. Read as much as you can and figure out the best plan that you and DD think will work based on what she wants.
5. Academics DO matter and can be very helpful in making the difference.
6. There is an element of timing and luck involved.
7. Different areas within the country evaluate the game of softball differently, try to understand these as much as posible.

My recommendations for any parents/players out there that want to learn more about it is to read as much as you can from as many sources as you can as I mentioned earlier. There is alot of information to obtain and digest, but it's not that difficult once you realize the lay of the land. Do not be intimidated and continue to learn as you go.

As with anything else, to achieve results hard work is involved form both the parents and the players, and that's just the way it is. Unless of course you have a superstar player that is being courted by schools at a young age, which we did not have that luxury.

The trip to playing collegiate softball for us was not always an easy one, but it was very rewarding. I can tell you as a parent, last year when she was a Freshman and we went to watch her play in her first game, I could barely contain myself. When she looked out from behind the plate (she's a catcher) to find us in the stands, and I saw the sparkle in her eyes, I knew it was all worth it. I'm not afraid to admit I cried a little.

Good luck to everyone out there in search of this endeavor and thanks to all those who have shared their stories in this thread.

 

[InsidePitch]

GI Tom, that's a great ending to your story. I pretty much always viewed the journey as the pinnacle. In this case it sounds like the destination or at least a waypoint was.

What I want to know is where you located the $250,000 home that is habitable & in a decent public school sysytem ?

I didn't find a 250k home, I just used that number as a figure for calculating the tax in my town. We are at over 12k now and don't have a good school system...Parochial schools for us. At least in 5 years I'll be done playing for HS.