Five Warsaw High School seniors signed their national letter of intent Thursday, March 21, to participate in activities on the next level in college.
First up was Kasey Fink, who signed a national letter of intent to play in the band at Western Illinois University. Kasey intends to study music education.
“I’m actually going to do it the rest of life. I’m going for music education and it’s always been a dream. It is something that I love. I started trumpet in fifth grade. And I was always involved in music before that,” Fink said. “I started playing piano and Guitar and I learned trumpet. And now that I am going to be a music educator, I have to learn all the instruments. Play trombone, flute and saxophone and more.
“The people at Western attracted me there I love the faculty, they are just so nice and welcoming and they made me excited to go there.”
Her goal is to be a band teacher somewhere once she graduates.
Jordyn Climer signed her national letter of intent to play softball at Carl Sandburg in Galesburg.
“I just thought it was the right fit for because it’s close to home,” Climer said of her selection of Carl Sandburg College. “The coach reminded me a lot of my travel coaches. Since I’ve been like 10 years old, I’ve wanted to play on the next level and then once I got to play travel ball, then I knew it would be a reality.”
Climer plans to get into the dental hygienist program at Sandburg and after she’s done playing softball, pursue a career in the dental field.
Gage Scott will play baseball on the next level at Moberly Area Community College in Moberly Mo. “When I first stepped on campus the coach was great. He welcomed me really well,” Scott said. “The players welcomed me really well and it’s nice. I don’t have to really spend much money there to get an education and continue to play the game I love. It’s a perfect fit as I come from a small town. They were struggling this season and hopefully I can help them turn it around next season. They told me they want me to play center field and I will play whereever they need me to play. I plan on studying something in the medical field. I was thinking physical therapy or personal assistant and study exercise science.”
Next up was Mason Stevenson, who signed a national letter of intent to play baseball at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Mo., and intends on studying physical education.
“Culver has a really good education program for what I want to go into,” Stevenson explained. “They are close to home, less an an hour from my house. I’m going to study physical education and they’ve got a pretty good education program at Culver. And it is nice that I go there and play the sport I love and get a degree in what want to go into.
“What means the most is getting your degree,” he continued. “It is nice to play the sport at the same time. I have teammates from my travel baseball team who are going there so I’ll be able to play with them and maybe room with one of them. I also know people that have been through the school, so it’s nice to know that it is a good school.
“I remember when my dad taught me to play catch and my dad played college baseball and he’s probably been my biggest role model,” Stevenson added. “I’ve always wanted to carry on that legacy and just be able to do something that was really important to my dad and it became what I wanted to do. And Culver just felt right.”
Kyle Smith was the final senior. Smith signed a national letter of intent to play baseball on the next level at University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy in St. Louis, Mo. Kyle intends to study exercise physiology as a prerequisite for physical therapy.
“It’s located in middle of St Louis. Not far from Busch Stadium it is really cool,” Smith said of the university and its program. “I talked to the coaches over the phone and they watched me play some travel ball this fall. I went on a visit and saw the program they have for exercise physiology which a prerequisite. And that’s got me really excited because that’s my dream career.
“Playing on the next level has always been my dream,” he continued. “For a while, I doubted myself. But the past couple of years I’ve really put in the work and been more confident in my game and I think that really helped.”
