Alex Carden '20 Recruiting Profile

I was born and raised in Paris, France until 7^th grade and I joined my first club baseball team “Les Saints de St Germain en Laye ” when I was 7 years old.  Our international Saints team lost and gained half of its roster every season, included boys with four to five different mother tongues, and played games and tournaments all over France with French teams and French umpires often a little weary of us.  After 5 years with the Saints, I learned good baseball fundamentals but maybe more importantly, I was forced to learn different ways to build relationships.  Sometimes all of the different perspectives could be frustrating but I learned to keep an open mind and not take things too personally.  I also learned that you can always find a way to communicate even if you can’t find the words. Or, in the case of dealing with the umpires, sometimes it was helpful not to find those words!  Also, people appreciate it if you show an interest in their culture even if it’s just by tasting their mom’s snack or learning a few words of Spanish or Japanese.

When I was nine, I started playing baseball year round when in the summers I began playing for Port Washington NY’s top summer travel team. In summers I went from being the American on my French baseball team to being the French kid on my New York team. So far my high school summers have consisted of a lot of league and tournament baseball, two Sports Journalism and Broadcasting courses at Hofstra University and (this coming summer) the New York Times Sports Media and Management course.  I’ve enjoyed researching and writing scripts, interviewing coaches, and learning what it takes to go on air. I also volunteer every summer and some vacation days at the Alzheimer’s Center of Long Island, which I found three years ago when my mom and I took my grandmother there for a program. The attendees are always interesting, sometimes difficult and, often, hilarious.

While my love is baseball, I am a three-sport athlete (including soccer and basketball) for my school and am honored to be recognized as a leader on my three teams. Since freshman year I have been our Varsity team’s starting shortstop and this year I received the Big Heart award from the baseball coaches as the player who plays with the most passion and drive to improve.  This past fall I was selected as captain and given the MVP award for our JV soccer team having led the team in scoring and assists during a season faced with many injuries and tough division challenges. And this winter, I was selected as captain of our JV basketball team where I’ve been starting point guard for the past two years. The team competes in a challenging public school conference, which really pushes my competitive edge and drive to compete and win against tougher competition.  My coaches in and out of school very often comment that I am a smart and generous player and that I leave it all on the field or court. I am really proud of that.

I applied and was accepted into my school’s selective Global Studies Scholar Program. I feel that with my experiences living and traveling abroad, work ethic and team building skills I will truly benefit by and can bring a lot to the program which looks to develop the sensitivity and the skills needed to become a true global citizen, strong leader and generous humanitarian.  I am a member of the Investment club and Inkwell, the school newspaper.  I have written countless articles that have been published for the whole school to read ranging from opinion pieces to sports pieces. I was elected 2 years ago by my peers into a program called HOPE. The objective of HOPE is to give leaders of the community who people trust the tools to help us strengthen the community and bring people together.  My goal is to ultimately find a college where I would have the opportunity to be part of a competitive baseball program and where I will be challenged academically.