January 31. For many students, this is just a regular dreadful Monday morning, but for me, it is the beginning of baseball season.

Baseball is my life. I watch every Giants game during the season and during their off-season I count the days until the first pitch of next season. I love repping the Giants with player jersey shirts and going to Giants’ games, whether it be 20 rows behind home plate or in the bleacher seats about 350 feet away from the action. Watching baseball may come as a thrill to me, but being in the game is even better.

After waiting 10 months to play for the school team again after injuring my arm mid-season last year, it’s obvious how much I’m itching to step on the field again. And when I say itching I was literally sitting in my A.P. U.S. History class during seventh period, itching.

I’ll admit, high school baseball practice is not the most exciting thing out there, but it sure felt like it after not participating in a team practice since last March. I savored every grounder I took and every ball I threw like it was the last time I would ever play the game. After seeing my season end last year because of one ill-fated throw, I’ve learned to respect the game more and treat every day like it is the last day I’ll ever step on a baseball field.

Especially during junior year, where the intense workload from A.P. and honors classes can completely overwhelm a student (not to mention the SATs), baseball is a great way to relieve the stress that has been building up for the past five months. I mean, what better way to take out frustration from junior year than crushing a ball with a metal bat?

As cliché as it may sound, baseball is more than a game; it’s a way of life. I live, sleep and breath baseball so the feeling I had when I got back onto the field with my teammates was incredible—definitely worth the 10 month hiatus.

I don’t care if you call it America’s past-time or the most boring sport on the planet, it’s still the sport that I live for. Yes, I actually enjoy taking extra grounders after practice with my baseball buddies and getting extra swings in the batting cage. Sure, it might just be high school baseball, but that’s doesn’t stop me from anxiously counting down the minutes until practice every day during school.