Fullerton College softball centerfielder Clarissa Hernandez is ecstatic to be able to compete in spring.

After a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and campus shutdown, Hernandez is back on the field, practicing and bonding with her teammates once again.

Although the shutdown kept the team physically apart, they saw each other through zoom calls every week.

Hernandez shared that the coaches were effective in ensuring the players continued to bond, workout, and maintain the connection they all shared.

However, zoom calls could not make up for the loss of the game Hernandez loves, nor the loss of her regular schedule.

Hernandez shared that the loss of her routine and ability to play ball with her team were her deepest struggles during the campus shut down.

“All these years I was used to waking up, going to practice, going to study hall, eating, going to bed, and doing it all over again…during the pandemic, I had all this free time, and it gave me anxiety,” Hernandez explained.

Hernandez shared she felt a hole in her heart where softball used to be along with her teammates.

Using healthy coping mechanisms to combat her “internal battle”, she worked out every day during the pandemic even if she didn’t always have the desire to.

Hernandez’s works outs consisted of running three times every week, workouts via zoom on Tuesdays and Thursdays with the softball team, creating her own, and imitating YouTube videos by Chloe Ting.

The Hornet centerfielder is repeating her sophomore year solely in hopes of continuing her career at a university.

With the campus shut down, sophomores that planned on transferring the semester COVID-19 hit had their chances delayed.

Hernandez has already completed her academic credits needed for her associate degree but is taking extra credits this semester to compete for the opportunity to play at the university level. She smiled with optimism and had a remarkable attitude about the delay in her transfer.

She aspires to receive a scholarship to a 4-year university, hopefully, Hawaii Pacific University.

“I want to play until the wheels roll off,” Hernandez commented.

Beyond softball, Hernandez is majoring in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis on social behavior and self-development.

Using this degree, she would like to become a social worker to be the voice for children who haven’t found their own yet and help families.

For more content on Clarissa Hernandez and Fullerton College softball, follow their Instagram.