It's proven, that the best universities often scout and sign the greatest prospects who have shined the brightest playing in the US.
Since early childhood, many fellow Mexicans decide to play a sport or multiple sports, and as they get older they dedicate and train for hours in hopes of playing and or studying abroad. Three years ago I received a 90% scholarship offer to study at Corban University in Salem Oregon.
But the question you’re probably asking yourself is how did I get here and perhaps how can you achieve similar results? First of all, it wasn’t easy. Since the age of 12, I had decided to play baseball in the United States and kept a laser-like focus on my work ethic and discipline. Because of this, and thanks to God, I achieved my dream. But work ethic was only part of the equation. What’s also important is believing in yourself and having faith that you can always achieve your goals if you have the proper discipline and desire to excel. Still with me? Ok, then my advice to younger athletes is this: don’t stop dreaming, don’t lose faith, and when given an opportunity, believe in yourself and take advantage of it.
For example, when I was training with the Tomateros de Culiacán in 2013, I met a very important sponsor, who at that time was the manager of the Tomateros. After evaluating my skills, he recommended that I contact a baseball scout. So what did I do? I took his advice and travelled all the way to Florida with him and trained really hard for a month and a half. Then, on November 28, 2013, I received the biggest news of my career: I got an offer to study at Corban University in Oregon.
From a young age, my parents instilled two passions in me: the love for baseball and my academic studies. Today, as I culminate my academic undergrad career I continue to live with the dream of playing professional baseball. Because my parents instilled the values of both passions, had I been given the opportunity to sign with a professional baseball organization and temporarily suspend my studies, it would have taken a good amount of money because for me, the priority has always been my academic career.
At the moment, I am pursuing the last semester of my B.A. in Business Administration, and feel very accomplished with all the opportunities and experiences I’ve had at Corban University. At the same time, this also means that this semester is also my last season with the Warriors of Corban University, whom together we've managed to advance to the playoffs for three consecutive years, without being able to raise the championship trophy yet.
Thanks to Corban University, I've had the opportunity to travel to Cuba and to Canada for the first time, which was an unforgettable experience. The good thing about studying abroad is learning about new cultures. Not only do you get the opportunity to relate to others who speak in a language that’s different than yours, but you also become independent by living alone because only then do you realize that it’s not easy to achieve your goals.When we traveled to Cuba, we got to know the Cuban culture, food and its cities, which I will never forget. Fortunately, I am still in touch with the people I met on those trips and in the future I would like to return and perhaps live there.
It's not easy being away from my family, because I miss them, their advice, their ability to pump me up after a bad day. But surprisingly, what I also missed a lot was the rich and delicious Mexican food. For example, ever since I first arrived in Oregon I’ve always lived in the dorms, which was fun, but the food was very different from what I was accustomed to because I miss my mom’s cooking.
Being a professional baseball player is difficult, but being a student and a baseball player at the same time requires twice the dedication. After all, you are actually working on two careers, baseball and your academic major. And there lies the secret: at some point in our lives we are all going to stop playing baseball. But what we have to do is constantly learn and compete in life, and academics will certainly help you in your journey.
It is never easy to achieve your goals, but if you have a dream of studying and playing abroad one day and you keep your faith and discipline everything is possible. Don’t stop having fun playing baseball because it’s a very nice game that teaches you important principles such as how to be a good teammate and how to have the courage to get ahead when you are alone in the batters box. In the end, always believe in yourself, and always give one hundred percent effort in school and in sports because you never know who is watching you from the stands.
