白兰地酒校友焦点:法雷尔·埃弗雷特，2023届毕业生

媒体,爸爸. ——bck体育官网校友法雷尔·埃弗雷特, 2023届毕业生, 当费城费城人队的球童有多开心.

Everett began her Penn State journey at 白兰地酒 in 2019, majoring in communications. She said she chose to attend 白兰地酒 because of its proximity to home and her ability to play collegiate softball.

“The close-knit community of 白兰地酒 really attracted me to the campus. Also, its proximity to my house was incredible — I’m only a 30-minute drive from campus,”她说。. “垒球对我来说也一直很重要, so getting the opportunity to continue my softball career at 白兰地酒 not only played a role in me attending 白兰地酒 but also me staying here.”

埃弗雷特在白兰地酒公司工作期间非常投入, 因为她是白兰地酒垒球队的接球手, 是学生运动员咨询委员会的积极成员, 成立了一个名为“隐藏对手”的俱乐部, an organization dedicated to ending the stigma surrounding mental health and student-athletes.

她在垒球队的时候, 白兰地酒 won three consecutive bck体育官网 Athletic Conference titles and was crowned the national champion of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) in her last year. She noted the championship win as her favorite memory during her time at 白兰地酒.

“The championship game of the USCAA World Series was definitely my favorite memory during my time at 白兰地酒,”她说。.

“We were in the bottom of the seventh inning and were down eight to nine — we were two runs away from winning. I remember Jess James (class of 2024) led off the inning with a triple, 在这一点上, we were getting excited in the dugout since we had a shot at winning. 然后, Lexi Bussenger (class of 2026) had a base hit and Kaylee Mushinski (class of 2026) hit the game-winning run. I remember piling onto the dugout as two other fourth-year students and I were crying because we ended our college careers with a national championship win. 这是最好的经历. 我周围都是我最好的朋友.”

Upon graduating from 白兰地酒, Everett went on to continue her softball career as a youth coach. She also made her dreams come true when she started her post-graduation career as a ball girl for the Philadelphia Phillies. As a ball girl — the Phillies’ official title for the position — not only is she on the first- and third-base lines grounding foul balls, but she also partakes in community outreach initiatives like Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (a Major League Baseball initiative) and the Urban Youth Academy (a Phillies initiative).

Everett said being a ball girl has been a dream of hers since she was a kid.

“在我小时候，我爸爸有费城人队的季票, so he would take me to games all the time because I loved the team and the catcher at the time,”她说。. “有一次我们去看比赛, 我坐在看台上, 一位老妇人指着田地说, “你看到那边的球童了吗?? 总有一天你也会这样.’ It’s a very full-circle moment because I’m actually a ball girl now. 现在, 每次我在体育场看到垒球运动员, I tell them what I was told as a kid and they’re going to be in my shoes one day.”

Everett said that her favorite part about being a Phillies ball girl is getting to engage with the fans and youth players.

“There are some people who come to the stadium and their faces light up when they see it. It’s such a cool experience because I was the same way when I saw ball girls when I was younger,”她说。. “Also, I really enjoy meeting all the young players through the initiatives we participate with. They have the same drive and ambition I had when I was 10-12 years old, 教他们我喜欢的比赛真的很有意义.

“我经常说的一件事是垒球给了我很多, 所以我想尽我所能回馈垒球, so it’s such a rewarding experience getting to give my all to these kids that love softball as much as I do. 垒球给了我很多. It gave me my job, my college experience and some of my best friends. Getting to see these kids and watching them excel in my favorite sport is awesome. 没有比这更好的了.”

When asked what advice she would give to Penn State students, Everett said to be on campus and be involved in as many activities as you can.

“大流行期间我在上大学, 我觉得大学时光过得很快, 所以，尽可能多地在校园里享受每一刻吧,”她说。. “当我能够亲临校园时, 我在这里一直待到深夜, 无论是垒球, going to the cafeteria with friends or studying in the library. Finding a public space that I was comfortable in was really important to me coming back to college post-pandemic.

“I got very involved with athletics during my time at 白兰地酒, which allowed me to meet all the other student-athletes on campus. I even got to do a social media marketing internship for 白兰地酒 体育运动. Getting involved and going to campus activities and events was great. This campus is awesome and it’s really great to be a part of it.”