Name: Heather Maggard

Homeplate: Blue Springs, Mo.

UMR connection: Senior in biological sciences and first baseman for UMR's softball team

Heavy hitter: honorable mention All-MIAA selection at one of the league's most loaded positions, top returning hitter for the Lady Miners with a .346 average

What's up doc? "I always wanted to go into the field of medicine. In high school, I volunteered at a local hospital's emergency room and just fell in love with it. I'd like to work in rural Missouri because it's underserved."

No bones about it: She's getting a head start in the medical field by studying bioactive scaffolding, or how glass can be implanted in the human body to cause bone to form. "Glass acts as a porous material that the bone can grow into," she explains. "It could be used to promote growth back in a terribly broken bone and could have the advantage of faster healing time. Or for people with degenerating bones, such as osteoporosis, perhaps glass could be implanted to repair bone loss."

A full count: "Softball isn't the hard part; it's catching up on the classes. At some times, I miss up to a third of my scheduled class periods. Good communication with my professors is important. I come late to labs or on different days. I do my homework and papers early. Anything I can do early, I always make sure I do it."

Bookworm: "I've gone to college always saying that if I could be a full-time student all my life, I would. I could just read books all day."