It is hard to find your fit and adjust in a brand-new place. Every year a new batch of freshmen experience this. However, freshmen have programs specifically designed to help them make the transition into college. Transfers often don’t have it so good. One semester you are at a college, trying to put down roots and find your place — and the next semester you are having to do it all over again. It is possible, though, to be successful as a transfer. You need look no further than sophomore mathematics major and softball player Lainey Baker for proof.
On the softball front, Baker has hit the ground running. She is only a few games into her Union career after transferring from Samford University and has already earned awards for the Gulf South Conference (GSC) Pitcher of the Week and the Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Pitcher of the Week. Batters unlucky enough to face her have come away with a batting average of only 0.181. She has a WHIP (walks + hits per inning) of only 1.04.
Off the field, though, Baker admitted that the transition was hard at first.
“I just formed such deep relationships at Samford with so many of the girls on the team and I do miss them,” Baker said. “It was just hard knowing so many of them are still there. Now I’m so glad I transferred, but in the moment it was really hard just going from one place to another.”
Baker really loved her time at Samford, but unfortunately things did not work out there, and so she decided to transfer. She reached out to the coaches at Union, which she had visited in high school, partially thanks to family nearby. Then, this past summer, she officially became a Bulldog. However, it took her some time to get used to the idea of a new place.
“I don’t think I was very open to the idea of just like ‘okay, I’m going to somewhere other than Samford,’ and it took me so long, like probably half of the first semester to get that through my head,” Baker said. “I’m at Union, which is such a blessing, but I was like trying to make Union into Samford, which it’s not and that’s a good thing.”
Again though, having trouble adjusting is a common experience at first for transfers, and it can be especially hard for transfer athletes who have to perform at a high-level whilst dealing with that transition.
“We talked about it a lot, just like being new. She was the only new pitcher on the team and her and Skate were the only transfers on the team,” Clara Kelleher, a senior biology major and Baker’s roommate, said. “That is a lot, coming in as a transfer because there are a lot of expectations for you.”
For Baker, the performance on the field has come, and thankfully, so has a love for Union off the field. The biggest reason for this is what drew her to Union in the first place: the Christ-centered community she saw on campus.
“I think that is something you just don’t find anywhere else,” Baker said. “It just impacts you everywhere. Like, from the way our coaches coach and the professors teach and just the overall atmosphere here. I think that’s really important.”
It’s doubtful that anyone who knows her is surprised by Baker’s passion for Christian fellowship. When asked to describe Baker, the first thing Kelleher brought up was Baker’s faith.
“When I think of Lainey, I think of someone who is very firm in her faith. It’s really encouraging to see because you don’t always.” Kelleher said. “Even on weekends where they have games on Friday and Saturday, she’ll still try to go to church on Sunday.”
Baker herself spoke about the importance of her faith whilst navigating the difficult adjustment period.
“I think the most important part of the transition was just being consistent in my faith,” Baker said. “There’s no way I would have gotten through that without the Lord at my side.”
Nowadays, Baker has really found that community she sought at Union.
“I think she prepared herself very well mentally just for like it to take time for people to accept her and for people to trust her,” Kelleher said, “and I think now she’s seeing the fruit of that. She is very welcomed and loved on the team.”
Baker herself happily chatted about her community on the team.
“The whole team in general is so close,” Baker said. “I love them. They’re going to be lifelong forever.”
She was also quick to shout out the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) on campus.
“I’m on the FCA team and just getting to interact with other athletes in sports you don’t usually see is cool,” Baker said. “It’s just a very easy environment to meet people.”
It is not just the athletics department where Baker has found that community though. Instead, she says, it is all around campus.
“It’s not just a scope of where it’s like this group of people, this group of people, this group of people,” Baker said. “I’ve found friends everywhere.”
From the athletics department to West Jackson Baptist Church, where she attends regularly, to her classes in the math department, Lainey Baker has found her Christ-centered community. She has made it through her transition and she has made Union her home, which is good news for Lady Bulldogs fans everywhere.
“Now that I’m here, I’m not leaving,” Baker said. “I love it.”
