Inside Pitch: Grace White Writes “My Entrance into the ‘Big Girl’ World Was A Summer of Change”

Grace White, a longtime blogger for Extra Inning Softball’s “Inside Pitch” series, finished her college career this spring as a senior for her Division II Union University Bulldogs and received her diploma after she majored in Journalism.

She is now “entering the big girl world!” as she puts it after also being the Sports Editor for the Cardinal & Cream, the school’s student publication, and has a younger sister who plays in the Virginia Unity club organization.

Today’s “Inside Pitch” covers how Grace is doing–post college and softball career… in what she calls a “Summer of Change.”

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As Mr. Brentt (Eads of Extra Inning Softball) says, I’ve entered the “big girl” world. When I walked across the stage to receive my diploma in May, I had a definite idea of what that world was going to look like for me, and I was excited.

However, my first few months as an adult have not been anything like I thought they would be. This has been a summer of change for me, mostly good changes but also struggles and periods of homesickness that have challenged me and reminded me that life is short.

Although I finished school at Union, I continued to live there because, let me tell you, the rent for regular apartments is not cheap, especially when you’re newly graduated and not rolling in dough.

I worked for the Jackson Rockabillys, a Prospect League team in their inaugural season, as the ticket manager and front office/media administrator. Gameday hours were long. Sometimes I would be there from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., working on rosters, answering the phone, selling tickets, and writing game recaps.

But I got so much valuable experience, and the people that I worked with were awesome.

After some games, we went to the Waffle House down the street and hung out. Other times, we all talked in the parking lot until 1:00 am. Our little group was more like family than coworkers. That was definitely the best part of the whole season for me.

Conversely, the worst part of the season was the homesickness I felt. This was the first summer in my whole life that I hadn’t lived at home with my dad and sisters. Not that they were home very often because Esther plays travel ball all over the country, but I still missed them so much.

I believe the saying is true that very often you don’t appreciate what you have until it’s gone. My dad and Esther and Abigail are still alive and well.

However, it’s not like it used to be when I was being homeschooled or even when I was getting my undergrad. For basically my whole life, they were the ones that I saw all day every day, during school, after school, and every moment in between.

They’re my people, and I didn’t realize how much I would miss them until the carefree days when I was always home were gone.

Now, I come home whenever I can, and it’s a welcome change from the busyness of the working life. Our laughs are louder, our smiles are fuller, and our hearts are happier.

The way I’ve felt this summer reminds me of two songs: “Don’t Blink” by Kenny Chesney and “‘Til You Can’t” by Cody Johnson.

In the second verse, Chesney sings:

• I was glued to my TV, when it looked
• Like he looked at me and said
• “Best start putting first things first”
• ‘Cause when your hourglass runs out of sand
• You can’t flip it over and start again
• Take every breathe God gives you for what it’s worth

Johnson says in his song:

• So take that phone call from your momma and just talk away
• ‘Cause you’ll never know how bad you wanna ’til you can’t someday
• Don’t wait on tomorrow ’cause tomorrow may not show
• Say your sorries, your I-love-yous, ’cause man you never know

The moral of these two songs is to not take anything for granted and to live your life purposefully.

If I’ve learned anything in these first few months of the “big girl” world, it’s that my family means more to me than I ever realized. I want to live my life so that they always know this truth. I don’t ever want to stop saying, “I love you.” I’ll say it till I’m blue in the face because I want them to always remember.

I also desire to live my life with purpose, specifically the purpose that God has for me. I just turned 22. That’s 22 years of my life that I can’t get back.

There are things I’ve done and said that I regret. There have been many times that all I could think about was what big milestone was coming next. Now that I’ve graduated, I think about what my career is going to look like and what my future family will be like, and yes, it’s good to plan ahead.

However, I don’t want thinking about the future to consume me.

If I could give all of you one piece of advice from my first “big girl” summer, I would say:

1. “don’t blink,”
2. live for the Lord’s purpose, and
3. love your people hard “‘til you can’t.”

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