Editor's note: This is a series on NNUSports.com titled "Letter to My Freshman Self." It is based off of The Players' Tribune's "Letter to My Younger Self" series. You can read other letters here.

Dear Greg "Breezy" Casper,
 
To say your college years are going to be a roller coaster would be the understatement of the year. The ups and downs you will experience will test you, but you cannot shy away from change. You will succeed at goals you thought you had, but fail at the goals you never knew you needed to have.
 
Many people will doubt your abilities because of things you cannot control, only to find out that their insecurities were the driving force in the attempt to damper your spirits. I know that you will most likely disregard this letter, because that's what you enjoy doing with any opinion that is not your own … but I have faith that one day you will come to terms with your inadequacies.
           
The game of baseball will take you around North America, each stop teaching you a lasting lesson.
 
In the concrete jungle of Tacoma, you will learn what it means to be afraid. Every night when you hear the police sirens you will hope that the shots were not aimed at one of your teammates. Tacoma is where you will start gain a sense of what it means to care for people, something that you were previously oblivious to.
 
You will live in Kentucky where the pain of injury will reveal itself to you. This is where mental toughness is gained.
 
A dream will be realized in South Dakota when you accept a scholarship to play Division I baseball, only to realize that the grass on the other side can't be greener if it's always covered in snow.
 
You'll be a crowd favorite in Victoria, British Columbia, signing autographs for hours after each game. This is where you learn that every moment in life should be cherished, for everything is temporary.
 
Although you are having personal success, you have yet to truly grasp the concept of being a team player. Canada is where you are taught about the concept of humility. You will end up quitting the game that you once loved as you start to discover that there is more to life than throwing fastballs.
 
You will be a school janitor in Pocatello, only to wake up to dozens of colleges calling your name. While taking visits to these schools, none of them really touch your heart. You're lost. A sense of ambiguity will inspire the most important portion of your college journey; this is where you discover God for the first time in your adult life.
 
The first prayer you have said in a decade will lead you to a school that God has been calling you to all of your life, but one that you were once too cool to attend. You will be challenged at this place, slowly learning that playing a sport does not make you superior to others, for God loves us all regardless of our athletic abilities. You will make strides as a human being for the first time in your career, finding a way to make life about more than baseball. Everything will not always be as smooth as you would like, but you will finally have His hand to help guide you.
 
I am aware that you have never met this man I have been speaking of. The only thing you are concerned with is being that best baseball player you can be. To be honest, I am glad you don't yet know what it means to play in the name of Jesus, because those difficult times standing alone on that mound will only make the feeling of God throwing fastballs with you so much more enjoyable.
 
Romans 12:2
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
 
Love,
 
Senior Greg "Breezy" Casper