Sports are time-consuming and stressful, but they are also oh-so rewarding. Ross High School Senior Siera Loudermilk spent the summer before her senior year preparing to take the next step in athletics and academics. She has visited over 20 colleges, hoping to find the school and team that best suits her.
Loudermilk shared her experiences and mentioned that every visit differed. Typically, she would talk with coaches, tour campuses, go to admissions to get her transcript and financial things in order, and then go back to either watch or participate in the team practices. She explained, “…they would have [her] do overnights. So [she] would stay with some of the players in their dorms and have the full college experience, which was fun.”
Loudermilk has been playing basketball since 4th grade, a later start than other hopeful basketball commits. She never thought she could make it to the next level. The dream started to become a reality when a recruiter reached out to her sophomore year. Since then, she has been on a journey to further her athletic career beyond high school.
Throughout high school, Loudermilk participated in both cheerleading and basketball. She stated that the two had never conflicted until this season, but both of her coaches have been understanding and flexible.
Out of the 20 campuses she visited, one campus, in particular, stood out and narrowed down what she was looking for. Loudermilk stated, “The first one I went on was at Lynchburg, which is in Virginia, and it was like super small campus. You could get everywhere in five minutes. Like it was so small. And that stood out to me. And I was like, this is like a campus that I want to have, but I kind of want it closer to home.” She used this knowledge to decide what colleges she should visit in the future so she would not be wasting her or anyone else’s time.
Ultimately, Loudermilk decided to commit to The University of Franklin. Once all the paperwork went through and Loudermilk was accepted, she reached out to the coach and said, “I’m ready to be a grizzly.”
