Tika Eastman '21 Recruiting Profile

All throughout middle school I always put academics first, and now in high school my goals to achieve are to get A’s and B’s. I always try my best to keep up with my homework. For college my academic goals are the same but I know I have to put in a lot more effort since the courses are more challenging. I also do appreciate a challenge in school and on the field. A little challenge in life is good, but sometimes there are very difficult challenges. I am ready to face whatever is next, I am not a moment to moment planner, but do appreciate structure. This part of my personality aligns closely with my desire to be apart of a camaraderie as evidenced by the work I have done with the JROTC program. In a university I am looking for leadership with military opportunity for advancement. 

I have had many obstacles I’ve had to overcome. One of them being the loss of close relatives. I lost my great-grandfather when I was 13 years old. My great-aunt passed away when I was 14; a family member that held some parts of our family together. My other great-grandfather passed away when I was 15 in January of 2019. These emotional times my whole family was together to comfort each other and making sure everyone was okay. So I had to overcome those losses and continue to encourage myself to remain strong and push through the pain. Pushing through pain is not always an easy thing to do when you are hurting, but it is a characteristic that comes in hand often when trying to encourage those around me. 

Having had the above experience with death and dying, loss, and recovering from loss I have learned to better recognize when others may be struggling and therefore I can connect them to help. This also means that I can be a support to our team in times of losses and an encouragement when things may feel or seem bleak. I am also a huge cheerleader of our successes. My collegiate goals are to be a part of a team that is essentially family. A team where not only do we play together, but we eat, sleep, and breath fun together. The most important concept to me is playing the game and creating relationships to last forever.

I have some unique characteristics that make me stand out from others. I know people will usually hear someone  say that I am, “Strong or aggressive” and while, yes, I have both those qualities, I also have the ability to help and encourage other people both in my community spaces as well as in my peer group both. I am the kind of person who listens and communicates well, both on and off the field. I am able articulate my thought processes clearly and effectively. Thank you for reading this, I hope I can make or exceed your expectations as a person and as a player. I look forward to connecting with you regarding how I can be an asset to your team.