Lily Romero Swings Her Way to James Madison University
January 27, 2021
Elijah Williams
Athletics Editor
Covid has changed a lot of people’s social life, especially people who love playing sports. Many people have long-term goals to succeed in sports. But athletics-related goals have been difficult to achieve in recent months because of Covid-19. Before Covid-19, QUEST Senior softball player Lily Romero dedicated much of her time to athletics. She has been in love with the sport since she was 6 years old, and is currently a catcher and outfielder for USA Athletics.
Romero’s college plans revolve around playing softball at James Madison University in Virginia, though she states that this was not always her plan. According to Romero, “I never really had a specific school that I knew for sure I wanted to play at. But the assistant coach reached out to me and we began getting to know each other at the beginning of my junior year.”
Romero explains “the doubts and struggles she experienced during her college decision process, stating that”, “The process of committing was long and stressful. I constantly doubted that I [would] find a school that wanted me as much as I wanted them, and as more of my friends began committing I felt a little more pressure…” she continues, “But I just kept practicing every day and I sent so many emails and videos to so many coaches…when it came to JMU though, the decision was easy.”
In regards to her goals, Romero is approaching JMU with much ambition, stating that, “My goals for my first year at JMU are to prove myself as a leader and a valuable player. I plan to work harder than I have before to earn my spot on the starting roster.”
Furthermore, Romero attributes her inspiration within softball to her teammates. “For me, my teammates are my family and best friends,” says Romero, “We push each other to be better every single day and we all want the same success for one another. We are competitive and fighting for spots, but at the same time we are making each other better people and players. They really do inspire me to be the best that I can.”
As for her future campus life at JMU, Romero cannot choose just one thing that sparks her excitement. She states, “The question should really be what am I not excited about! I can’t wait to meet new people and walk such a beautiful and huge campus everyday. I am also so excited to experience the true four seasons there.”
All in all, Lily Romero has a bright future ahead of her at James Madison University. Reminiscing on her commitment to the college Romero says, “When they reached out to me offering me a spot on their team I never felt happier.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF LILY ROMERO
Pictured above is Lily Romero in her element as catcher. She’s doing what she loves most- playing softball.
Emma T Garrett • Feb 5, 2021 at 8:09 am
February 3, 2021
Dear Corydon Editor,
In issue five on January 27, 2021, Elijah Willams wrote an article titled “Lily Romero Swings Her Way to James Madison University’’. I like how the article starts off with challenges of covid that all athletes have dealt with during this time and how Lily was fortunate enough to get in touch with colleges. Covid has made most senior’s decisions for next year very difficult. Lily explains the struggles in finding a school and how long stressful the commitment process was. This makes me wonder how unpredictable and stressful it must be for student athletes this year, since most sport seasons are canceled or postponed due to covid. This article was very inspiring because it made me have hope for finding the right college for me even during this crazy year. In the article Lily reveals that her teammates are like her family and push her to be her best. “For me, my teammates are my family and best friends,” says Romero, “We push each other to be better every single day and we all want the same success for one another. We are competitive and fighting for spots, but at the same time we are making each other better people and players. They really do inspire me to be the best that I can.”- Lily Romero. This quote shows how strong teams are at Millikan and how being on a team is like being a part of another family and support group you can go to.
Sincerely,
Emma Garrett, Grade 12
Emily Winters • Feb 4, 2021 at 12:37 pm
February 4th, 2021
Dear Corydon Editor,
In Issue 5 (January 27, 2021), Elijah Williams wrote an article titled “Lily Romero Swings Her Way to James Madison University” that caught my eye. As a Junior, looking for colleges and figuring out what you want to do in life past high school is stressful so seeing an article about a fellow student getting into one of their college choices was very pleasing and interesting to see. I was fond of the way you decided to write the article, showing the ups and downs of searching for a proper college as it makes it feel quite relatable to other students at Millikan. The article gave a motivating feeling to continue to try despite your fears. However, I feel that adding certain goals she gave herself and trials and errors she had to overcome would allow this story to cause the viewer to be more engaged, learning from her on how to better themselves. As a student struggling to find which college fits best, it would be lovely to hear the input from a former student on what to do and not to do to accomplish the goals needed in order to graduate and find a college that best fits me. Despite that one flaw, the story was beautifully put together and achieved the happy feeling it was attempting to give. The story was an inspiration to all Millikan students.
Sincerely,
Emily Winters, Grade 11
Emily • Feb 4, 2021 at 10:19 am
February 4, 2021
Dear Corydon Editor,
In Issue 5 (January 27, 2021), Elijah Williams wrote an article titled “Lily Romero Swings Her to James Madison University”. In this article it shows the challenges of a young star athlete, deciding what college to choose, whether they will make it on the starting rooster, will they like the college or the area around it. So many questions to ask before choosing the next step of your future. This article is nicely written, it demonstrates what obstacles Lily Romero had to face, especially since we were hit with a curveball last year, it had impacted her of course but she’s made an awesome breakthrough to still move forward. She’s motivated herself to keep pushing and now she wants to push herself harder than ever. For a person who’s witnessed Lily play, she definitely has a bright future ahead of her. She’s a great all around player with a thunderous voice, she has an incredible arm that will no doubt gun you out at second, but she’s a very caring, loveable person with terrific sportsmanship and that’s what stands out. Thank you Elijah for sharing this with us, it was a great article to show the next chapter of this young bright star.
Sincerely,
Emily Camacho, Grade 11
Joseph Daniele • Feb 3, 2021 at 10:43 pm
February 3rd, 2021
Dear Corydon editor
In athletics, article titled, “Lily Romero Swings Her Way to James Madison University” (published January 21, 2021), Elijah Williams tells of fellow Millikan student, Quest senior Lily Romero. I like how Elijah started it, by saying the covid-19 impact has impacted many people, and explains Lily’s perseverance to the matter. Lily is going to James Madison, in Virginia. It was cool when I first saw she was going to James Madison, because I had a class with her in 9th grade, and I think it is awesome to see someone go to college doing something they love. Elijah says, “she has been in love with the sport since she was 6 years old, and is currently a catcher and outfielder for USA Athletics.” I have high praise for anyone who can be on USA Athletics, and it is truly deserved! I hope Lily finds success at James Madison, and mostly has fun.
Sincerely,
Joseph Daniele, Grade 11
Cameron Snyder • Feb 3, 2021 at 12:43 pm
February 3, 2021
Dear Corydon Editor,
In issue 5 (January 27, 2021), Elijah Williams wrote an article titled ‘’Lily Romero Swings Her Way to James Madison University’’. This article was written very well. I felt it captured the true essence of the struggles that student athletes are going through because of the pandemic. It was formatted so the reader was easily able to follow along with the story and understand the story behind lily’s recruiting process. The article didn’t only accentuate the excitement that lily had being recruited but as well as the ups and down emotions during this process. It shows that something as beautiful and rare being offered a scholarship for the sport you love can have its stresses and Elijah did a great job with the interview showing us these different perspectives.
Some enhancements are suggestions for Elijah to keep with the story of athletics and get different perspectives. I think athletics in the highschool scene right now is such a big conversation and topic because a lot of highschool students are on sports teams. So maybe get different sports perspectives on how covid took their season away, made it hard for seniors to get recruited or how covid made the athletes better and more goal driven. With that being said the article was very well written and composed and there were little to no mistakes.
Sincerely
Cameron Snyder, Grade 12
Jason Wilson • Feb 1, 2021 at 9:46 am
Nice work!