TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Amanda Thompson has always been a dreamer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember freshman year, we had to beg girls to come be on the team.\u201d <\/p>\n
She had a dream to build the softball program up at St. John Paul II, and the grind to see it through.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think she set a goal and she hasn\u2019t let anything distract her from that goal,\u201d said head softball coach Terrence Brown.<\/p>\n
Her determination has resulted in back-to-back District Championships for the Panthers. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s only a handful of players in this area that have that work ethic, desire, passion for the sport,\u201d said Brown.<\/p>\n
That work ethic can be seen in everything Thompson does. <\/p>\n
\u201cDuring middle school, I was a C and B student. My grades weren\u2019t that well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now a straight A-student, she has a 4.39 GPA, and is Valedictorian of her senior class.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom tutoring, to after school, extra work, extra meetings with teachers trying to get grades up, making sure she got things right,\u201d said Brown.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you would have asked me freshman year, 8th grade, even sophomore year that I would have been Valedictorian, I would have said, you are joking! There\u2019s no way!\u201d laughed Thompson.<\/p>\n
Her work in the classroom and on the field attracted the attention of Harvard, where\u2019s she\u2019ll suit up in college, and she\u2019s got big goals for them too.<\/p>\n
\u201cFreshman year, Harvard is going to the World Series.\u201d<\/p>\n
As her track record shows, Thompson\u2019s reality always starts with a dream. Her next big dream? To qualify for the Olympics. She\u2019s on the U.S. Virgin Islands National team, and they\u2019re trying to qualify for the Pan American Games, the first step in getting to the Olympics. <\/p>\n
At Harvard, Thompson said she wants to study law with goal of getting into politics, and ultimately one becoming President of the United States.<\/p>\n
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