Crazy Crystle

2:20pm, crystle makes her way across the scorching hot parade field to her 2:30 class, English 1105 in McBryde Hall. Not only is it a mile long walk from her dorm but it’s also a dreadful hike up three steep flights of stairs. You would think she’d be exhausted, or even the least bit tired- Not a chance- Crystle doesn’t even break a sweat. Having played softball for the past 14 years of her life, I guess you could say she’s used to the heat. She arrives early to class- as everyone else does- walks briskly and smoothly to the back of the petit sized classroom, takes a seat in a small chair connected to a desk and waits quietly and patiently for the lecture 5 minutes ahead of her. It’s a small class consisting of only about 17 kids; freshmen, waiting to take in an abundance of knowledge from their master. 55 minutes pass and just like that the class is over. The clicking of laptops being closed is sounding off throughout, book bags and notebooks are being closed, zipped open and shut and shuffled around, and Crystle is on her way back to her dorm room for a well deserved afternoon nap.

But not everything in Crystle’s life has run as smooth and nicely like it is here at tech. Crystle has had some tough times thrown (or hit) her way in the past. “One thing I have overcome in my life is 6 surgeries,” she said, “I had a spinal disease called scoliosis where my spine was in the shape of an “S” and it was corrected when I was 12.” Amongst this surgery she had to have two medal rods and screws attached to her spine to straighten it out. That’s surgery number one, the other five surgeries came from a severe and horrific accident that she faced two May’s ago. It was a hot steamy and normal day in Sterling Virginia; the sun was out, the crowd was seated and the teams were warmed up to play. Crystle takes the mound as she has done in the past so many times; just another game for Crystle, nothing big. Then it happened: she made her pitch and as soon as the ball rolled off her fingers the not so soft ball came rocketing back at her face. WHAMMY! Crystle went down; she had just been struck in the face by a 100mph line drive. “I had five broken bones,” she said, “about 8 stitches in my lip and I lost a tooth.” It’s been over a year since this accident has happened and she’s still not fully recovered. “I have one more surgery to go.” Now despite all of this trauma and suffering, she was back on the mound pitching and back to her normal activities again just two weeks later, as if nothing ever happened. I guess you could say she has some guts and just loves what she does, whatever it is, it makes her a G.

Crystle was born and raised in a little town called Sterling, in the northern part of Virginia- about a four hour drive from Blacksburg. A very outgoing girl says a close friend, “She can just walk up to someone and start talking to them, without even knowing them,” I guess that helps when you’re going to a college with about 30,000 kids, “She's not afraid of doing something silly, and so she doesn't get embarrassed easily.” Now 18 years old, Crystle has found herself here at tech in the field of IDST, pursuing her dream of becoming an elementary school teacher. “I came to tech because it was my dream school. Ever since I visited, I knew this is where I wanted to go”, she said in an earlier interview. And who wouldn’t want to go here! “With the largest number of degree offerings in Virginia, more than 125 campus buildings, a 2,600-acre main campus, off-campus educational facilities in six regions, a study-abroad site in Switzerland, and a 1,700-acre agriculture research farm” (Background, vt.edu) it’s basically a given that this is the best university on the east coast, and with that she had no choice but to come here.

Although school, studying and acquiring an elementary education degree are of extreme importance to her, Crystle has a much deeper aspect to her, a side you wouldn’t see just by looking or even talking to her. “I consider myself a family person. I am very close to all my siblings and parents,” which include an older brother and sister, and a younger sister. Getting along with some or all family members can take a lot of work, but for Crystle, the phrase “family first” comes naturally and she loves it. You just don’t find that bondage between families very often. “Spending time with the people you love and living life to the fullest is what is important to me,” she said. And not only that, she’s very deep into her religion. “She's very spiritual. She has a strong relationship with God, and loves it. She believes that there are so many good things in people and usually that's what she sees. This is what makes her so friendly,” says a close friend to Crystle.

After caring for her family and worshiping God, she becomes just an average college freshman; a kid, just like everyone else. “She can go out and be crazy, but she's always really serious when she needs to be,” says her best friend, Jessie. Her daily routine during the summer days consisted of many things you might have actually experienced: waking up late, working a few shifts during the week, hangin’ out with her best friend and going to each other’s house to chill and maybe watch a few movies. If none of that sounds familiar, then you’re not livin’ right. “Fun and really rambunctious,” is how her best friend describes her, “We laugh about anything and everything, and she's usually pretty happy. Her favorite movie of all time is: A Night at the Roxburry. She loves Will Ferrell.” Crystle can be found out on the softball mound pitching for the home team, or actually at home watching a Monday night football game with her dad and brother, or at her friend’s house glued to the TV watching late night final four basketball game going into the 3^rd overtime. “I love sports,” is how she put it. She just likes to be happy and have a good time. If that’s not enough, she even has her own fantasy football league! That’s right; Crystle has and runs her own fantasy foot ball league- incredible. And after her draft picks are complete and everyone in her league is dealt with she somehow finds time to go out and watch movies, listen to some music and just be with her friends. “Beautiful- I don't tell her enough, but she is. She is beautiful inside and out and I love her for that,” says Jessie- I think everyone can agree on that.