Humans of Hillsdale is an ongoing series spotlighting Hillsdale College student-athletes, spotlighting the people behind the uniforms.
Latest in the series is Charger softball player Katie Kish
WORDS: Calli Townsend
PHOTO: Katie Badger
Katie Kish — Changed
Class of 2019 | Softball | Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan
She's positive and kind. She's encouraging and passionate. She is Katie Kish.
This softball player has a passion that extends past the field. She is also a member of Hillsdale's Athletes InterVarsity. This campus ministry has greatly impacted her life and she now serves as a member of its leadership team.
"If I'm not playing softball or studying, that's probably what I'm doing," she said, as she is involved in the planning of Bible studies and events.
She said after growing up in a Christian home without a personal relationship with the Lord of her own, she attended an InterVarsity Bible study her freshman year at Hillsdale, thanks to the nudging of an older teammate.
"I saw people who passionately loved the Lord, and that was something that I wanted," she said. "My freshman year was more learning from afar and watching how my older teammates lived and what was different."
September 2016, during her sophomore year, is a time she'll never forget:
"I fully gave my life to the Lord and have been chasing Him ever since," she said. "It's incredible how different I am. I feel like a new person. I have joy through adversity because I know the Lord loves me."
Knowing that she is a part of something so much greater than herself has made the biggest difference.
"Honestly, it's changed everything," she said. "Particularly, I'd say my purpose for life is the most different. I feel like for the first time I truly have purpose, and that is to bring others into the Kingdom with me."
Her new perspective on life has led to new a new confidence, new relationships, and even a new skill.
"It's actually a funny story," she said. "I told my brother and my mom one day in the summer after my freshman year of college that I decided I wanted to start playing the ukulele."
Luckily enough, her brother had a ukulele he wanted to get rid of, so she started watching YouTube videos and taught herself to play.
"My main motivation to learn was to play worship songs and sing," she said. "It's so fun and now I want to learn guitar."
Katie recently got involved in a pen pal program with an elementary school in Jonesville as well.
"You just write a note to a second-grade student at a school in Jonesville," she said. "We write letters back and for, ask each other questions, tell jokes and draw pictures. It always makes me laugh because they're hilarious."
Whether she's leading a Bible studying, playing worship songs on her ukulele with her team or exchanging letters with a second-grade pen pal, Katie seeks to share the joy she has. She says she wants to continue on her mission and go on staff with InterVarsity after graduation.
"When you know God loves you, there's nothing that matters more," she said. "Knowing that I'm a part of something so much greater than myself has made the biggest difference."