Katherine Kindle '20 Recruiting Profile

“As a black woman, the decision to love yourself just as you are is a radical act. And I'm as radical as they come (Bethanee Bryant).” As a young black girl, growing up on the eastside of San Jose was rough. There is a high poverty rate and a high crime rate where most people either join a gang or do not make it out. As an African American female, I was always the minority. As I got older, I began feeling more isolated and struggled with my identity and my purpose in this world. Being surrounded by people who didn’t understand my culture or made fun of it was a struggle. I was always made fun of for having different hair and had children pulling it just to get a laugh from their friends. This made me hate who I was and dislike where I came from even more. However, my family was always there for me and always told me if I do not want this to be my life, I need to get out of the hood. This was a promise I made myself that pushed me through the hard times and made me believe I have a purpose in life. I lived in the hood, I was raised in the hood, I fought in the hood, but my future won’t be in the hood. 

My family lived in low income, section 8 housing before I was even born. My mom works at a preschool which doesn’t pay very much. When I went to school I didn’t have fancy clothes or newest shoes but I had what I needed. My mom gave us what she could even if she didn’t have enough money.  My mom didn’t have a lot of money to feed all of us because my father was never there to help her raise me. She just made sure me and brother ate and sometimes she would go to bed without eating. She soon applied for food stamps so she could help provide for us. We still live in the same place but we have everything we need. 

Three of my childhood friends were killed in the hood. I  promised myself that my future wouldn’t be here. The hood shaped me in many ways; some that broke me, some that made me strong but it never made me want to give up and always achieve my dreams. In order to make it out, I knew I had to start doing better in school and found my passion in softball. When I started doing better in school, I realized that it could give me an opportunity to be able to go to college and set up a better future for myself. Softball to me is like my escape from all the distractions around me in the hood. When I am around my teammates and my coaches on the field, it lets me clear my mind and my problems and struggles go away.  

Once I started thinking about college for my future, I knew I needed to figure out what I wanted to do. I realized that I had an interest in culinary arts but I didn't think that it was the right path for me. After some research I found out what  the right career was for me. I want to major in hospitality management so that I can become a chef and maintain a restaurant. It has been my dream to own a restaurant. Ideally, I would also love to play softball at a college level. The only bad part about leaving home is that I would be far away.I know I can come and visit but I would miss my mom and dad the most. However,  I have to follow my dreams. After college I want to open my own restaurant and help give back to my family and my community. Most of the money would go make a sports complex for kids in the hood like me who can't afford to play sport. Every kid has dreams to play but they get crushed and turn to the loney ways of the street. We can’t afford to put these kids on the streets. This why I need help them out so that they don’t have the same childhood I had because we deserve so much better than to be bleeding out on the streets. We need to accomplish our dreams.