For freshman Julia Wilkes, softball has always been a big part of her life. “I remember I started playing softball when I was nineyears-old. My friend was playing on a rec team and I wanted to play with her.”

Currently, she plays for the club softball team, Emmorton Thunder.
Julia is faced with many challenges while playing softball. She said, “Whenever I face obstacles in softball, I’ve learned the best way to overcome it is by working harder and putting in practice, but more importantly, staying positive and motivated.”
She said, however, it’s “being able to play with teammates who will always stay positive and will support the team even when we don’t play well,” that keeps her going.
When playing softball, Julia always sets goals for herself. She said, “My goals in playing softball are learning to work on a team, getting stronger and healthier, and learning to persevere when I’m presented with challenges.”
She hopes to play for a college softball team after graduating from John Carroll. When Julia is older, she hopes to be a coach for softball.
She said, “When I’m an adult, I think it would be really cool if I could coach.”
When she isn’t playing softball, Julia is either doing art or listening to music. More specifically, Julia likes to “draw and paint because art allows me to be creative, and I like art because it’s relaxing.” In her free time, she loves to continue practicing her pitching and hitting.
Julia has this to say to athletes: “If you really love your sport, don’t give up when it gets hard. It’s no fun when you give up because you’ll never get to move on to a new skill.”
Julia believes that “setting goals and working to achieve those goals” are still very important, but she said, “At the end of the day, what matters most is that you’re having fun.”