Sports have always been a big part of Louisville freshman Stevie Humphrey’s activities. During her high school years, she participated in basketball, volleyball, softball and track. She’s enjoyed sports ever since she can remember.

“It’s been my life, seriously,” she said.

But when she was injured while running to first base in a softball game her junior year, the way sports fit into her life was changed. She tore a ligament in her knee, she said, which prevented her from fully participating in what had been an important part of her life.

“I was tore up,” Humphrey said. “I still get really upset about it when I can’t do things.”

It was especially hard because she couldn’t take part during her senior year, she said.

Louisville freshman Nathan Eaton has known Humphrey since eighth grade and went to high school with her.

“She was definitely an athlete,” he said. He remembers her being upset after her injury.

Although Humphrey can’t participate in sports as much as she would like, she doesn’t let her injury totally keep her from what she wants to do. She joined an intramural basketball team when she came to Western and said she really enjoys it.

It’s still hard for her to watch sports sometimes because she wants to be involved, she said. She can also be competitive at times.

“I hate to lose at anything,” she said.

Humphrey is majoring in elementary education and wants to be a teacher, possibly of third or fourth grade, she said. She tutored children in high school and said she likes helping them.

“I like to feel like I can do something,” she said.

Louisville sophomore Amanda Evans, Humphrey’s friend and roommate, agrees that Humphrey is a caring person.

“She wants to help people out, and be there for somebody,” Evans said.

They have known each other for about a year and have been roommates for this semester, since Evans transferred to Western. Evans said she likes to play sports, too, and the two get along well.

Eaton said Humphrey has a strong identity.

“She has a big personality,” he said. “She’d be there for you if you ever need her.”

After this summer, Humphrey said she plans to move in with her mother, who is moving to Bowling Green from Indianapolis. Her mother’s boyfriend got a job in the area, and, they decided it would be a good decision to move since she lives in Bowling Green, Humphrey said.

“It kind of worked out both ways,” she said.

Her parents divorced when she was a young child, which was hard at times she said. She has lived with her dad in Louisville since she was 12 years old, but is happy to move in with her mom.

“She’s like my best friend,” Humphrey said.