College Corner: Cabrini Softball's Stephanie Diegel

A 2011 graduate of , Cabrini freshman Stephanie Diegel is now making strides to contributing to her new school's softball team, after a high school career that was supported by many in the community.

However, Diegel may not have landed at Cabrini if it wasn't for the valuable connection of a Spring-Ford education.

"Cabrini was never on my list until toward the end of looking at colleges," Diegel said. "I was actually looking at Rosemont [College] and Lebanon Valley [College]. I went on campus and fell in love with the campus."

So, Diegel made a power move and emailed the coach, and with luck, hit it off right away. Apparently, Cabrini's head coach already saw Diegel in action at a Spring-Ford game because she also went to Spring-Ford. A 2002 graduate of the school, Lisa McGregor helped the Lady Rams win two PAC-10 championships during her tenure.

"We started talking about it, I did an overnight visit and loved it," said Diegel. "I was going to do secondary education, so I switched my major and Cabrini offered it, but Lebanon Valley did not, so Cabrini became my number one choice."

Diegel now majors in communications, and is looking to add a math major, as well. In her first semester, she achieved well-above the 3.0 GPA mark and really enjoyed the small classes and personal feel the college has.

In the future, Diegel would like to work in radio or do video work, but she hasn't figured out what she wants to do in the math field. For now, she's enjoying the intricacies of college and she's seeing similarities and differences in the college experience versus high school.

"It's pretty similar when it comes to the workload," she said. "It's quite a bit of work, but considering you don't have as many classes in a day as you did in high school, it's about the same.

"Getting adjusted to college life, it's different when you're with a bunch of people, and at home you're usually by yourself and it's really quiet. In college, you have to adjust to the surroundings. It's easy to get used to, especially when you have a roommate, because you always have someone to talk to and everyone is so nice."

As a freshman, Diegel has the whole world ahead of her when it comes to her Cabrini career. But one goal is for certain in her mind.

"On the field, I'm hoping to just keep playing the game I love to play," she said.

Overall, Diegel expressed gratitude for her years in the Spring-Ford community, saying her teachers pushed her to do her hardest and encouraged her to achieve much success, including her head coach, Tim Hughes.

"Coming here made me not want to disappoint myself," she said. "It made me want to keep going for a 4.0 and keep pushing forward. It's great having that background and not wanting to slack off. I've been able to do what I want to do and always do what I think what's best for me. I kept my standards high and always reached for them."