Jacquelyn Young-Bowers '21 Recruiting Profile

My jersey number is 5. For most athletes their jersey number is nothing more than the number they wear on their backs. For me, it is a reminder of where I come from, what has influenced me to become the young woman I am today, and the people who have been apart of my life with me. I am the third child of the five children in my family; the 5 of us have always stuck together to push through the bad parts of life and to enjoy the good parts of it. When I was an infant I had 5 surgeries on my left ear because of my difficulties hearing. My parents were never able to understand me until I went to speech therapy; I didn’t properly speak until I was 3 years old and I didn’t learn how to properly understand vocabulary until I was 10 years old. My language development has always been lower than the level I should’ve been learning at. I have always been playing a game of catch-up my whole life starting when I was in kindergarten. Not only did I have hearing and speaking problems which already put me behind, but I also was put into school one year early, which makes me younger than all of my classmates. As for my heritage, I am the 5th generation on my father’s side of the family to be born free. To clarify, I am African-American as well as Mexican and I am proud of my origins. My great-great-great grandmother was the last known person to be a slave on my dad’s side of the family which makes my great-great grandmother the first person to be born free in my family. Thus, I am a part of the 5th generation to be born free.

Having to always play the game of catch-up my whole life is all I’ve ever known. My life is always constantly changing and I have to react quickly to it. I am very adaptable; when I didn’t make an all-star team when I was 10 years old I ask my coach what he needed and he told me that he needed a pitcher so I became a pitcher. The next season I was the backup pitcher and starting center fielder for the all-star team, and we ended up winning the National Title. Another time I adapted to my surroundings was my first year of travel ball. I used to be a right handed hitter and was known for being a power hitter. When I first tried out for the team my coach told me that he asked me if I could convert into a slapper because of my speed and also because the whole team was made up of power hitters. And that’s how I became a slapper. I like to think of myself as clay in which I can mold into any position and play it well. In college I know that I will be able to mold into any kind of player my coach will need me to be for the team.