Jeffrey Blaine Hollis

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My name is Jeffrey Blaine Hollis, the grateful recipient of the Hotstove League Scholarship of 2014. I was born and raised in Leland, North Carolina. Here is where my passion of baseball developed and my heart for success in school and life grew. 

 

Ever since I was five years old my determination on the diamond and at school was very noticeable. If there wasn't a baseball mitt on my hand, there was a book in it. 

 

My team and I together made it through so many accomplishments. We made it to the World Series in 2007 and 2009 and came up short each year, taking third place in 2007 and second in 2009. Although it was disappointing not taking first, that did not stop us. We worked harder and became more of a team as we prepared ourselves for the World Series in 2011. It was this year that our hard work and determination paid off, and we took home first place. 

 

I was also successful playing baseball for North Brunswick High School. My junior year, we made it the entire journey to the NCHSA 2A State Championships. I will never forget the Eastern Finals; these are the games that determined if we were going to the State Championships. Semi Finals are usually the best out of three games. Our team won the first game, and lost the second, and then it came down to the third. I will never forget the disappointment everyone felt and how much it l effected the team the third game. But with determination in our hearts we were able to come out victorious in the final inning. Winning games, I learned, is not just in the skills but it has to be in your heart and mind- you have to want it.  

 

Taking what I learned on the diamond about determination and the drive you have got to have, I applied that to my schoolwork. This dedication has allowed numerous opportunities and allowed me to finish within the top ten in my graduating class. By having that determination it focused me on my studies especially those studies in math and science, by focusing intently my love for those subjects allowed me to discover the path i wanted to take. I now attend University of Wilmington, where I wish to obtain a degree in Biology and then go to dental school and become an orthodontist.