College Spotlight: Oklahoma Sooner Standout Nicole Mendes… “What It’s Like to Be Homeschooled!”

The top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners host the Courtyard Marriott Tournament this weekend with five games set from Friday evening through the end of Sunday.

Coach Patty Gasso’s 12-0 team will play two games with Sam Houston and also Missouri with a single game scheduled with Louisiana-Monroe.

The entire OU team seems to be clicking right now—pitching, defense and hitting—and you can point to a number of players who are on fire. One of the most experienced on the team is senior Nicole Mendes the versatile utility player from Houston who has pitched

Nicole entered the 2021 season, her redshirt senior season, with a career .359 batting average, 15 home runs and 83 RBIs and already has one national championship ring, captured in her freshman campaign of 2017 when she smashed a home run in each of the Sooner WCWS championship finale wins over Florida.

In her Sooner career, Nicole has done everything from pitch to play centerfield and right field as well as first base.

She’s hit for a high average as well as power, stole bases, and pitched while earning honors such as 1^st Team All-Big 12, All-Region, Big 12 Freshman of the Year, WCWS All-Tournament (twice, 2017 and 2019) and last year even earned 1^st Team Academic All-Big 12 honors!

I’ve been privileged to have known and worked with Nicole going back six or seven years, back when she was a Top 15-ranked player in the 2016 and I even had her blogging for me when I ran a site called Full Count Softball that was a predecessor to Extra Inning Softball.

Friendly, articulate and smart, Nicole was engaging and fun to be around. I was always happy to have her share her viewpoints including two aspects of her life that many might not know to this day.

“Most don’t know that I was homeschooled my whole life,” she said in an interview with me back in 2015. “Yes, I wear PJ’s all day sometimes and, no, I don’t get to sleep in until noon!”

The other interesting aspect of her athletic life was that she didn’t play high school softball because of the homeschooling… check out the interview below for more on her life prior to putting on the OU colors!

— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball

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What It’s Liked to Be Homeschooled… by Nicole Mendes

Originally published January 18, 2015

Nicole Mendes, a 2016 pitcher/outfielder who plays for the Diamond Sports Hotshots – Davis and has committed to Oklahoma, is one of the top talents in club ball today but she’s intriguing in many other ways.

Rated as the No. 11 prospect overall in the 2016 rankings, Nicole is home schooled and doesn’t play high school ball.

In this first-person piece, Nicole–who is interning with Full Count Softball and writing about various softball topics–explains what it’s like to be home schooled including the pros and cons, how it works with her not playing high school softball and the misconceptions she faces…

My name is Nicole Mendes and I am homeschooled.

Most students you meet are public schooled or private schooled. Elite softball players who are homeschooled are almost unheard of, but I am one of them.

I compete at a high level nationally for softball and am verbally committed to the University of Oklahoma.

While my education may be a little unorthodox I have benefited from it in so many ways. I have had multiple opportunities to be involved with real life experiences while still attending school.

I have just as many friends as a “normal” kid has contrary to the popular stereotype.

I am aware that there are advantages and disadvantages to my choice of education but I have learned to overcome the difficult parts, creating solutions when needed and striving to excel in areas that will improve me. Understanding that it is not how I am educated, but rather the effort I put into the process is what will determine my future.

High school softball season

In Texas, the U.I.L. (University of Scholastic League) rule prohibits homeschoolers from participating in any extracurricular activities for public school. Unfortunately, that means while everyone is playing high school softball, I will not be able to play a game for six months.

But there are advantages to not playing.

The Oklahoma commit doesn’t play high school softball, so she has to maximize her club game experiences.

My arm, when summer season starts up, is rested and ready to go. A considerable number of girls start the season with “dead arm” and do not fully recover until later in the season.

Typically when you break down bad habits there is a period of regression before things start coming together. When I am on break that allows me to go back and fix my form without worrying about being ineffective during a game situation.

Some disadvantages are training six months without pitching to a hitter or batting against a live pitcher. Working on the tee can never replace live pitching and practicing pitching will never be able to simulate pitching to a hitter who reacts to your pitches.

Another disadvantage is how long I go without playing in competitive games.

I practice to see results, so when I am training for months on end without challenging my skills against other elite athletes it is difficult to keep focused at maintaining a maximum level of effort.

Homeschooling and how it works

One of the great advantages of being homeschooled is the flexibility that accompanies it.

I am able to study at my own pace, stopping and taking my time on a concept that I might not fully understand or quickly pass a topic that comes easily.

The curriculum is presented in such a way as to engage as many as my senses with an emphasis on my learning style which benefits me greatly.

I am not only able to be flexible with my studies but also the time needed for lessons.

More than once that flexibility has allowed me to connect with instructors because I could come for a lesson at a time when most others could not.

As you become more advanced, the number of elite instructors tapers down. They can only take on so many students.

About once a month I drive two hours to Galveston to have a 10 am pitching lesson.   If I attended public school I would have never received the opportunity.

Over the years I have been able to experience several different styles of homeschooling ranging from taking all my classes at home and attending parent-taught cooperatives (co-ops) once a week to unit studies and independent video lessons.

During elementary school I was in a large co-op that had 100 families. We studied subjects like Math, History, English, Science, World View, Art, and Gym. Classes were from 8 am to 3 pm with a break for lunch at noon.

In middle school I was in a very small co-op with two other families. We studied Math, English, History, Science, and Latin.

In the large co-op everyone is charged a fee to pay for the facility being rented for classes (this is divided per family unit no matter how many family members are taking classes). Each unit also pays for whatever curriculum is being offered as well as any supplies that may be needed for the classes you sign up to attend.

In the small co-op I was a part of there were only curriculum and supplies fees. Usually taught in a home with one to three families involved and it is a more relaxed and intimate setting.

Both were parent taught. This provided accountability for parents and students to stay on track. Both also met once a week for instruction with work to be completed and returned at the beginning of the next class.

From 8^th grade to 10^th grade I attended a medium sized co-op for Science only. The rest of my subjects were done at home.

This co-op was different from the other two because, although the teachers were parents or someone in involved in the homeschool community, they were paid to teach. Additional costs were supplies, cost for the curriculum, and building use fees.

Being homeschooled allows me to dive deeper in areas I am interested in and provide real life experiences in careers I may want to pursue as well as internship opportunities.

For example, my writing curriculum extends out to my internship with Full Count Softball and writing for my organization’s monthly newsletter.

Working with kids is something I enjoy. Volunteering as a teacher’s aide in a Pre-K and Kindergarten class is a great way to get volunteer hours as well as see if working with kids is something I would possibly want to do in the future.

Homeschool Misconceptions

When I ask people why they are so surprised upon finding out I am homeschooled a typical response is “Well, you don’t act like you’re homeschooled!”

For some reason, people have this image of a homeschooler being an awkward, anti-social loser who wears clothes even grandparents would not be caught dead in.

Here are some questions people frequently ask about homeschooling:

1. “Do you get to sleep in?”

For some reason an automatic assumption is that you do not get up until 10 am and you finish sometime around 2 pm. I get up around 5 am, work out, eat breakfast and start school. Sometimes after a long tournament I get to sleep in on Mondays.

2. “Can you wear pajamas all day? “

While I am flattered by the interest in my wardrobe, it is nothing too exciting! I usually get dressed for the day but sometimes, yes, I do stay in my PJ’s all day.

3. And finally the most cliché question of all… “How do you have friends?”

First let me say that I live in the city of Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States. There is a large community of homeschoolers so it is easy to stay connected with people like me.

Co-ops are a great way to meet people since it is like public school in the sense that you have classes with a group of students.

There are several sports teams for homeschoolers to play on such as football (yes, we do have a Homecoming), golf, volleyball, soccer, cheer, and several others so it’s just not softball. Other types of electives are offered as well. Photography, Drama Clubs, Speech and Debate, Yearbook, and so many more are available.

Those are great ways to meet kids that are in the homeschool community. Of course I am able to meet friends through softball and church as well.

While it is hard to hang out with friends the reason is because my schedule is jam-packed with school and softball, rather than because I am not up to par socially. Likewise, many other softball players that I know both in Houston and across the nation wrestle with balancing their time between being an elite student athlete and hanging out with friends.

Despite the pros and cons, where someone is homeschooled or public schooled does not determine if they are good at sports, or if they will receive a good education, or even if they can make friends.

That deciding factor is up to the individual.

— Nicole Mendes

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Extra Insights: More on Nicole… a Q&A From 2016!

The following is an interview done five years ago when the future Sooner was a PGF All-American and finishing up her summer with the Hotshots before heading to the Big 12…

Player: NICOLE MENDES

Hometown: Houston, Texas

Club Team: Diamond Sports Hotshots

College: Oklahoma

Position(s): P/OF/1B

*** Scroll down to read our Q&A with Nicole a month before she started her freshman (and national championship-winning) year at OU!