Softball player Alexis Caretti expresses how she balances both school, sports

High school can be stressful with large amounts of homework and worries about an upcoming test. Playing a sport while doing school work is an added stressor. Except for softball player Alexis Caretti who plays for the Foothill Gold softball team, going to try out for the school’s JV softball team and also currently maintains a 4.0 GPA all year.

Finding motivation is key to being successful and becoming better during their events; Caretti found hers.

“My motivation is really my future, [which is] getting good grades and showing one is a well-rounded person is needed to get into a good college. I also love softball which motivates me to take on such a challenge,” Caretti said.

However, despite her love for softball, there are times where the games and practices can get overwhelming.

“My biggest struggle is probably balancing the two while still making time for myself. It’s sometimes stressful when I come home from school, then go to practice 30 minutes later and won’t get home until late at night. But once I got into a rhythm of softball, school and free time it takes some of the stress away,” Caretti said.

But through such struggles, Alexis continues to work further with her studies and games in order to get to her future.

“My serious goal is to get recruited to play for colleges and study there too. In the future, I do want to play for a college that has good programs for my intended major so I can enjoy playing softball while studying for my ideal career, which would be in the medical field,” Caretti said.

With noticing the challenges Caretti faces, school friend Summer Hensley acknowledges the work she puts in.

“Usually I can finish my homework by the time I get home from school and then call it a day. But every time I call Alexis, she does her homework between 10 to midnight and still is passionate to make it her best. That inspires me a lot to just be able to do my best too because I also have more time,” Summer Hensley said.

To the other part of Caretti’s life, softball teammate Haley Simmons also sees her work ethic during practices.

“At softball practices she always gets so upset if she misses a ball, but the reason is because she thinks she will disappoint the team. She always puts in her everything at softball, which is inspiring to me because it makes me want to be at her level of commitment,” Haley Simmons said.

While there is competition to try to accomplish homework and also to beat the opposing team, she holds memories between the two tasks.

“I spent my birthday in Colorado due to a softball tournament, but my team planned a dinner for me and gave me lots of presents. I was extremely happy because all I thought was how they cared a lot about me. My best school memory was when I went to the second homecoming with my closest friends. There were a lot of mistakes that happened, but I think that was when I realized that I hope I can stay with these group of people for a long time because we only laughed it off and still enjoyed the dance. I found real and true friends that I can rely on and I wouldn’t want to trade any choices I made so far for anything else,” Caretti said.

by ALICIA CHO