Academic Athlete/South Georgia/November 2013
Courtney Waldrop
Tift County High School
Tifton, Georgia
Robert Preston Jr.
Tift County senior splits time among high school, college, and the softball field
Most high school seniors would like to get out of school as quickly as possible. Tift County High’s Courtney Waldrop is taking her desire to finish her education to an extreme. For the last two years, she has been taking classes at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) in Tifton while finishing her high school education. She has taken five college classes, all the while maintaining her regular class load at Tift County High and playing softball.Always a good student, Waldrop enrolled at ABAC during her junior year. She took three classes last year and has two more – college algebra and American literature II – this fall. She says she might take science and math in the spring. “I figured if I can get some college classes out of the way while I’m still in high school, why not? It will mean that I spend less time in school,” she says.
Waldrop, ranked 15th in her class of more than 470 students, has an intrinsic desire to succeed, both in the classroom and on the field. Since she started school, she has wanted to do the best she possibly could in school. While most students look to their parents for motivation to study, Waldrop’s academic goals surpass that of even her parents. “My mom always told me to do my best and not worry about my grades. But I’ve never wanted to make anything lower than a 95. My parents would be okay with a 94. But I want a 95. I’m harder on myself than they are,” she says.Fortunately for Waldrop, school has always come fairly easy to her. She is naturally gifted in the classroom and hasn’t had to spend hour upon hour studying. Still, there are times when she has to make herself do homework, especially during softball season. “I usually get caught up on my school work on Sundays. It’s not always easy to get started. My schedule is pretty tough,” she says.On more than one occasion, she has had to sequester herself from her teammates on road trips to complete assignments. Trying to finish essays and other projects on a dimly lit laptop while teammates are listening to music and dancing around on the bus after softball games or tournaments isn’t easy, but it’s often what Waldrop has to do in order to keep up her grades.Waldrop has been a member of Tift County’s varsity team all four years of high school.
Primarily a first baseman, the right-handed Waldrop has been a valuable member of a team that has made the playoffs every year she has been a Blue Devil. Her freshman year, Tift finished second in the region. Two years later, the Blue Devils won region by defeating Lowndes in Lowndes County. To secure the region championship, Tift only needed to win one game of the scheduled double-header. The Blue Devils wasted no time, winning game one, 2-1. Waldrop had two hits and an RBI in that game. “I just remember thinking that this is what we had worked so hard for since we were 12 years old. All that work finally paid off. I went to my dad after the game and gave him a big hug,” she recalls.With Waldrop’s impressive academics, she could attend just about any college or university.
She loves softball but isn’t sure she would like to pursue playing at the next level. Because of a broken finger she suffered taking a ground ball early in the summer, she didn’t get to attend very many showcases or play through the summer months. As such, she doesn’t have a lot of interest from college coaches just yet. Waldrop also isn’t sure she even wants to play in college. “Ever since I’ve been in school, I’ve always been a student-athlete. I haven’t made up my mind if softball is something I’d like to pursue in the future. Part of me wants to drop the ‘athlete’ and just be a student for a while,” she says.
Courtney Waldrop’s senior softball season is special for two important reasons: she is fortunate to even be playing, so just getting out there on the field is a tremendous blessing; and the region championship has made all the practices, tournaments, and sacrifices worth every minute. The finger she broke a few months ago could have cost her the season. She had to have surgery to repair the damage and wasn’t even sure she would start the season on time. Fortunately, her recovery went well and she began the season as Tift’s starting first baseman. Two months later, she and her teammates have a region title to celebrate.
Favorites:
• Last book: The Awakening by Kate Chopin
• Best movie in the last year: Now You See It
• Dogs or cats? Dogs
• Superpower: Super speed
• Last song downloaded: Miley Cyrus’s new album
• Person to meet: Tim Tebow
• Place to travel: Italy
