Each Monday throughout the season, one of our 2024 seniors will give fans a view through their eyes as they recap the previous week. On tap this week is catcher Sasha Willems.

Hey guys! I'm Sasha Willems, a senior catcher from Sydney, Australia, and I'll be taking you through my week!

Monday
Monday is always extremely similar for me as it's our normal off day. I went for a 6-mile walk before settling in to do some homework! It's finals week so there will be a lot of my homework and studying being done! I went in for my massage at around 2 p.m. and came home and studied more. I decided to take a break from studying and went for another walk only for there to be a random rainstorm – so I played around in the rain for a little bit before heading home to finish some of the papers I had due this week.

Tuesday
I started off the day with an 8 a.m. exam! Once that was over with, I went for another walk and got a coffee from Starbucks. I went to open field at around 11 a.m. and did some tee work before heading to Chick-fil-A for lunch. I went to weights at around 1 p.m. and then sat around waiting for my dad and brother to arrive. They finally got into Mobile around 4 p.m.. I was so excited to see them. I took them around campus showing them everything South has to offer, and they loved it. We also went to the softball facility for them to meet the coaches as well as see our locker room and facilities. For dinner, we went to El Milagro and watched the Leafs (Toronto Mapleleafs) win! After I got home, I did some more studying before falling asleep.

Wednesday
Wednesday was another day of writing papers all morning as well as creating a study guide. I had practice around 3 p.m., and my dad and brother came to watch as we have open practices. After this, I went home and cooked a chicken satay for all of us to eat and just stayed around the house relaxing before Dad and Blake (my brother) went back to their hotel. When they went back, I finished one of my papers and submitted it, and then treated myself to ice-cream from CookOut.

Thursday
Today was my senior day! I started the day with an exam at 10:30 a.m. Once my exam was over, I got Chick-fil-A for myself, my dad, and my brother, considering they had never had it. They loved it. Erin McGlothlin then brought me a coffee for my senior day. Dad, Blake and I headed to Walmart as they wanted to see the guns that get sold and then to Plato's Closet because my brother wanted to get some Jag gear. After this, they dropped me off at the field. Sidney (Lee), Molly (Pitts), Cadence (Williams), and Shelby (Garrett) were in my senior group and surprised me with some beautiful flowers and a decorated locker. It was super cute. After this, I went out to the field for warmup and noticed they had an Australian flag hanging. I went through my senior day ceremony and my dad and brother walked on the field with me. Dad threw out the first pitch to me and we were ready to go! They played the Australian anthem after the American one which was a super sweet gesture. We beat Southern Miss, 5-4 in a close game and then went to BWW (Buffalo Wild Wings) for dinner with the Lackie's. After that it was pretty late so I just went to bed.

Friday
On Friday, we took a trip down to Dauphin Island and had a look at the bird sanctuary. We walked around for a little bit before heading to Capt'n Snapper and getting fish and chips, which was super delicious. Today was Odalys Cordova's senior day so we honored her on the field before the game. The stadium was packed, but we lost the game. We had an autograph session right after for all the kids in attendance. Some of the parents grilled out on the deck, so I went up there to have some dinner. I went home after this and went to bed.

Saturday
Graduation Day! I spent the morning finishing up my portfolio for my internship, and then headed to the field around 11 a.m. and all of the seniors were surprised with their senior basket. Mine was super cute and perfect for me. The game was delayed around an hour due to rain and lightning in the vicinity. The seniors all got called out and walked on the field to be honored for graduating. It was great having my brother and dad there to witness my graduation! We went out and dominated against Southern Miss, having a true team win. Beebe's hosted a crawfish boil for us at the end of the game, and it was amazing! My dad and brother got to try a true southern meal and they loved it. After this, we went to Lackie's and just had a relaxed night hanging with some of the best people.

Sunday
Today was another day off for us. My family and I went to Maple Street for brunch before heading to the field to pack the bus for the conference tournament. After this, we made the drive to Orange Beach to spend some time together before they had to leave. We also made a pit stop to the Florbama line so that my dad and brother could officially say they went to Florida (although it was like a whole 30 meters across the line). We made our way back and picked up some Thai for dinner (the pad thai from Siam Thai!!! Amazing), and just spent the night relaxing before saying a quick bye so they could go pack.

It has been an amazing week and I'm thankful for everyone who made my dad and brother's trip so great! Thank you Jag Nation, and as always, Go Jags!!

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