At five years old, dirt clouds that formed when sliding into home plate sparked my passion for baseball. Later, a scholarship to Berkeley for baseball informed my college experience with the dedication required by such a program often reflected in my grades and coursework selections. I have not had a formal math course since high school. Unquestionably, the sport provided amazing experiences all over the world, including Japan for the World Baseball Games and in Texas as a professional player. Throughout the Midwest and Canada, I played baseball often in summer thunderstorms and lived next to a turkey slaughterhouse that employed primarily East African refugees working 24-hour shifts. Passion for the game influenced my personal code of discipline,
