Taylor McQuillin is a 16-year-old incoming junior softball player at Mission Viejo (Calif.) High and had a strong year for the Diablos in 2013 hitting .416 with eight home runs.  A standout student with a 4.2 GPA, she has pitched for the OC Batbusters the last two years and had verbally committed to Oklahoma State as a freshman, but had to decommit due to medical issues with her father.  Currently, she has Pac 12 offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State and Washington and will pick from one of the five soon (see below).

Perhaps Taylor’s greatest accomplishment is she has done all this despite having to overcome birth defects making her completely blind in the left eye and with only partial hearing on the left side. 

Here is her latest blog for Student Sports Softball… today, she recaps the five finalists she’s looking at as she’s about ready to finalize her college choice…

 

Be sure to check out Taylor’s previous blogs here

 

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For an athlete, being recruited by a college is one of the best feelings in the world. It shows that all of our hard work, time and effort has been noticed by someone other than ourselves.

When you get a letter from a college saying they are interested, you get a feeling of accomplishment, maybe even a little bit of self pride. Talking to colleges as a high-school student and having them tell you that they want you to be a part of their school is a good feeling inside for any athlete.

Going on unofficial visits is the most fun part of it all. You get to know the coaches and get a feel for the school. When taking a visit to a school they plan an itinerary for you and they show you around the school and have you meet with athletic directors, academic advisors, strength and conditioning coaches, and most of the time a couple players from their team that you can talk to and get honest opinions from because they have actual experience at the school and on the team.

When I went to visit schools I usually was impressed by how the people and coaches treated me and how they made me feel. To me, actions speak louder than words so I am impressed by how they show me that they want me and not just say so.

I also like people who are straight forward and honest with me at all times because I appreciate being told the truth just as much as anyone else. I love schools that support other sports besides their own.

The feeling of being close to all athletes and feeling like you have support from them is good because it creates a bond so close that they could be considered family.

One thing that is important to me in finding a college is also finding a place I can call my “home away from home.” Due to my familyʼs situation, I want to also stay closer to home and it would be nice to have that team to call my “second family.”

I personally do not look for anything else specific in a school because I am pretty easy to please. I just feel that each school shows what they have and I am willing to listen to any information that they have to offer.

I will choose the school where I feel I fit in best and the school that is also a good fit for my family as well.

Everyone is different and this is just one perspective on it and there are so many more.

For me, it’s coming down to the wire.

I will be making my decision within the next week on my choice for a college.

I went on an unofficial to ASU last Thursday and Friday morning and the week after PGF Premier ended I went up to the Northwest with my mother and visited Oregon, Oregon State and Washington.  I’m also considering Arizona.

Here’s what I liked about each of the five (in alphabetical order):

• Arizona: it’s huge in softball and felt like a true family environment
• Arizona State: it’s a big town and felt like California with all the palm trees and students at the school
• Oregon: very green and everything was centered on football which is fun
• Oregon State: small town atmosphere and everyone there was die-hard college fans
• Washington: beautifully build campus and great academics

I look forward to making a decision soon and I am excited to see what the future holds!  Hopefully, I’ll be letting you know this week!

— Taylor