Deion Corley has a different background than most kids. He was officially adopted at age 4 after having been with his foster parents since he was 6 months old. His parents, Frank and Teresa, are caucasian, yet Deion does not see his upbringing as being any different from kids with  parents of the same race. It is all he has ever known.

Differences in race did not keep Deion from having a strong relationship with his parents, nor did it keep him from building strong bonds through doing what he loves: sports. A varsity baseball and soccer player, Deion believes the best part of being involved in athletics was seeing himself and his teammates mature as players and men.

“The friendships and bonds I’ve made with a great group of guys has been the most meaningful part about high school and about sports,” he said. “Watching people grow and watching myself grow the past four years has been great.”

After four years at KHS, Deion is making the transition to play college baseball at Millikin University. Deion believes collegiate athletics will demand focus in school and on the field, but he sees sports as an outlet rather than a burden. His ability to relieve stress through sports made high school a more enjoyable experience all around.

According to Deion, his increase in work ethic and his ability to bond with teammates has carried over into his life outside of sports. He believes he has improved as a student and is more sociable with people he does not know that well.

“Through baseball I’ve learned to communicate with and trust people better. I trust that a teammate will make a play, so I feel like that will transfer over into trusting my professors to help me and push me to do my best next year,” he said. “I’m hoping to become a nurse and work in a hospital setting after college, so the people I’m going to be surrounded by will be my team. We will need to work together.”