By Ryan Pickle ’24, staff writer
On a campus where everyone seems connected coming from similar regions, LVC has a new student from a country far away as part of the largest first-year class in school history.
A native of Melbourne, Australia, Adam Jirik had a very long 30-hour journey to get himself to Annville, Pennsylvania, but his decision to come here was not easy.
Since he was young, Jirik has always been a very sporty person. After moving to the countryside, he participated in sports like cricket, Australian football and baseball. After years of experiencing all three, he decided what he wanted to do in his future.
“I played a lot of sports growing up, and baseball became more serious for me once I got into high school,” Jirik said. “I realized there was a pathway with baseball, so I began my focus there.”
Once Jirik decided that he wanted to pursue a future in baseball at the collegiate level, he began the recruiting process. Narrowing his options down, he saw an opportunity at LVC.
“I got recruited by Coach Beth [Woerner] through my recruiting profile that my academy had,” he said. “I started to talk to Coach [Jonas] Fester in meetings. We talked about baseball and school, and it was one of the better schools that I was looking at.”
Jirik is also very intelligent and statistically strong. Majoring in actuarial science, he looks to take on the challenge of this major while also exploring other fields at LVC.
“I like actuarial science because it’s a lot of math and problem-solving, which I have always been interested in,” Jirik said. “The classes so far have been pretty challenging, especially since I have been out of school for a while now.”
Outside of school and back at home, Jirik is always trying to keep busy spending time with family and friends and even has developed a clothing brand.
“I started a clothing brand at the end of last year selling shirts, hoodies and beanies,” he said. “We thought it could be fun and keep us busy, but we didn’t take it too seriously, and it’s hard to keep up with now since I’m away.”
Now back at school, Jirik is looking forward to getting out and exploring all of what is offered here. He mentions going to his first NFL game, NBA game and traveling to places while here.
“I would like to visit Canada,” Jirik said. “I’m here to study, but I’m also here to see different places around the world.”
LVC will now be Jirik’s home for the next four years. A first-year infielder on the baseball team, he credits the team, especially the upperclassmen for making him feel welcome in his first few weeks here.
“The guys are awesome. I feel like I’m a part of the team right away,” he said. “It’s a big transition and the upperclassmen have made me feel at home.”
Jirik is looking forward to meeting new people, adapting to life here in the states and putting on a show at McGill Field in each of the next four springs.