Jamie Dickerson
Published: February 22, 2006
Once upon a time, in a land far, far, away, one woman found herself in a different world. She found herself mixed in with a different kind of people, a different land, different kinds of food, and a different style of life. None of this mattered to her, however, as long as she could play softball.
Annakarin Solen Westling is a foreigner in the United States, but if she is playing softball, she is happy.
Westling is a new member to the PJC Pirates women’s softball team, and she traveled quite a long distance to be here. Westling is a native to Sweden, born in a small town called Leksand. Leksand has a population of only 6,000 people. This is where she learned to play softball.
When Annakarin, or Anna for short, was 7 years old, she started playing softball in a public park. She has loved the game ever since. She started playing for a junior club team when she was only 10 years old. Westling moved on to play softball at her high school in Leksand, called Leksand Gymnasium. When she finished high school, she moved to Amsterdam to play for the highest division of club softball in 2004. In a junior European championship Westling won the award for the best batter. After that she moved to Skovde, Sweden in 2005 to play summer ball.
Playing softball in college has always been a big dream of Westling’s, but she never had PJC in mind. A coach from the United States watched Westling play softball at an international camp and liked what he saw. He wanted Westling for his team, but things didn’t work out. He hooked Westling up with PJC’s women’s softball coach, Brenda Pena.
“When I talked to Coach Pena, I didn’t even send out videos to other schools. I knew PJC was where I wanted to go,” Westling said.
Westling has traveled to a couple of other countries besides America. At age 16, Westling traveled to Victoria, Australia as an exchange student through a club called Rotary International.
“That year in Australia was a great year. I loved it there. I got to know a lot of wonderful people and really got to know myself as well,” she said.
She also went to Uganda with her high school.
“Studying the lifestyles of the people of Africa was really a life-changing experience,” Westling said, as she learned first hand how some other cultures live.
When asked about some differences between the U.S. and Sweden, the first thing she said was the food.
“All you guys have here is fast food. We don’t even have a McDonalds in my hometown”, Westling said.
She said people here are lazy. She pointed out that students will drive from one class to another class that is only a couple hundred meters away. She also said that things are bigger here, like the lanes in the streets and signs along side the roads.
Westling is a very sweet, fun loving girl. In her free time she likes to, well, play softball. When she isn’t doing that, she likes to snow ski and snowboard. She watches ice hockey whenever she can. She likes to walk her dog, Dixie, through the forest back home. She also likes hanging out with her friends and family.
In Sweden, Westling lives with her mother, Elisabeth, who is a youth leader at a nearby church. Her father, Martin, runs an ice arena, where Westling waitresses when she is staying at home. Both her parents are from Sweden. Westling’s sister, Johanna, is studying in Vasteras, Sweden. Westling looks up to her older sister, who also plays softball, saying she is her hero. She likes to live by a motto her sister gave her, “Whenever you meet a person without a smile, give them yours.”
Westling wants to graduate with a degree in anatomy. She wants to do something like physical therapy, sports training, or massage therapy. She doesn’t quite know where she wants to go after college. She suspects she may end up in Australia, or maybe even South Africa. She does know one thing for sure. Wherever she ends up, she will be playing softball.