The Lumberjack



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Tag: Evelyn Andrews

  • HSU Softball remembers Evelyn Andrews

    HSU Softball remembers Evelyn Andrews

    Coach Sarchett and players reflect on their most memorable memories with Evelyn Andrews

    Evelyn Andrews, a softball player at Humboldt State University that no one will ever forget. Evelyn Andrews loved playing the sport since high school and once Andrews came to HSU she was among the redwoods that surround HSU’s softball field. It has been 10 months since the passing of Evelyn Andrews which wasn’t her losing her battle with cancer. It was due to a clotting complication that is common to Acute Myelogenous Leukemia patients.

    Andrews Coach Sarchett decided that this year was appropriate for Morgan Brant to wear her number in honor of her. “Morgan and Evelyn Andrews were the best of friends and Morgan wanted to honor her this way” said Coach Sarchett. Isabel Starr, a softball player at HSU explaining how she couldn’t see anyone else representing Evelyn Andrews number on the field than Morgan Brant. Morgan Brant, Softball player at HSU decirbies how she felt honored to be wearing Evelyn’s number. “She was the hardest worker I have ever met and always made a huge impact whenever she stepped on the field. I hope to make her proud and emulate the same energy she had” said Brant.

    “Evelyn Andrews was a hardworking and ambitious person. She laid everything out on the field. She dove for every ball in the hole, swung hard at every pitch she went for, and overall, played with a purpose” said Starr. Starr talks about how Evelyn was a selfless teammate and did anything in her power to help the team overcome any obstacle they faced together. Starr says “Morgan plays with a purpose, just like Evelyn. To me, Morgan is a selfless teammate, doing whatever is asked of her and does whatever it takes to help us succeed as a team.” Starr talks about how the number 21 isn’t just any regular number not at least to Humboldt States Softball team “There isn’t a better person to be wearing that number on our field and any other field we play on.”

    Coach Sarchett talks about Evelyn Andrews work ethic as a softball player “Evelyn Adrews work ethic is what stands out the most. It was second to none” said Coach Sarchett. She is now starting to base off on a majority of her recruiting on the type of person Evelyn Andrews was. “I want players that are going to come and work hard everyday, selflessly putting the team ahead of themselves and that is what Evelyn did everyday” , said Coach Scarchett. Brant talks about how Evelyn has impacted her both on and off the field, Brant says, “As a player, she taught me the importance of always being the loudest in the field and the best teammate you could have. Her “Don’t Suck” motto has stuck with my team and I and drives us to be the best person we can be.” Evelyn taught Brant how to see the good in people and taught her that laughter is the best medicine and positivity is the most important thing. “She taught me how to fight and be strong through anything I face in life” says Brant.

    “Evelyn Andrews was one of the most amazing people you’d ever meet. Although there are many people within this world that are amazing, she was one who stood out among everyone else. She was kind, caring and a bit of a butt sometimes.She was one who took advantage of every single opportunity that was thrown her way. Whether it was extra time on the softball field or just being with friends and taking advantage of the happy moments. She was also someone who gave you an extra push when you needed it.”

    Starr talks about the biggest lesson she learned for Evelyn was how to no suck, she learned instead of being regretful of decisions we make, we need to make the most of it. Starr says” The most important lesson Evelyn taught her was not to suck. This was the motto she constantly said that will forever be stuck in my brain. The term “Don’t Suck” applied to everything. Dont suck at softball, and don’t suck at being a decent human. I learned how to love and care for others. I learned that no matter how upset I am, dot shut those who love you out.” Starr talks about how she hasn’t stopped implementing “Don’t suck” into her life now and she doesn’t plan on stopping. Starr says, “To this day I wish I could thank her, face to face. For teaching me subtle, yet valuable lessons.”

    “I think we have learned to enjoy every moment we have and know that it can be taken away any second. So we are all going to go out and live our lives to the fullest” says Coach Sarchett.

    Brant’s best memory of Evelyn was their Sunday movie days they had, “She would always make chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and we would spend the day watching movies of friends of each other. Usually accompanied by sushi or Toni’s.” Coach Sarchett’s best memory of Evelyn was her smile, “She could change the mood of a room in seconds with her positive and contagious smile.” Starr talks about one of her best moments that she had of Evelyn, Starr was taking her first footsteps on campus and was having a hard time finding her groove and fitting in. “I was trying really hard not to be me, unfortunately. I was trying not to talk too much or too loud. I was just having a hard time figuring out what the vibe was on the team since it was the first time I had ever met any of the girls.” Starr talks about how they were going over simple team things, such as jersey numbers, sizes, and the handbook. As soon as the meeting with the team finished Evelyn and Morgan pulled her to the side and asked Starr how she was doing and Starr told them she was having a hard time to fit in. Evelyn had invited her over for mac and cheese with Morgan, Starr agreed. “That night we talked a lot and ate a lot…all three of us talking about anything and everything there was to talk about. They warned me about morning running and they warned me to never be late to anything I could help it. They made me feel at home. The overall experience with Evelyn and Morgan was comforting. I wasn’t as sad as I was to be away from my family at that moment because I had found mine. I found my Humboldt Sisters that I could forever rely on. Just the simplest memories I have of her are my favorite and they are memories I don’t think I could ever forget.”

    Ev 2, Cancer 0.

  • Remembering Evelyn Andrews 10 months after her passing

    Remembering Evelyn Andrews 10 months after her passing

    By Katelyn Dendas

    It has been 10 months since my friend, teammate and freshman year dorm mate, Evelyn Andrews, passed away. I don’t remember what the grief counselor said or what transpired after that Monday, but I do remember arriving at the entrance of the Arcata Community Forest in my white, tennis shoes with a rambunctious dog, Mayes, and my sad girl hours playlist. 

    Different forms of grief were transpiring within my team but I wanted to be among the redwoods, searching for a reason or answer to this loss. I walked for two hours going from trail-to-trail, stopping to explore everything that caught Mayes’s attention, but thinking for too long hurt my heart even more.

    On my way into the forest I had two separate phone calls, one to my mom and the other my dad. Both times with tears rolling down my cheeks as I continued to ascend to the top of the hill, out of breath but telling them every detail I knew. 

    Over the four months prior to February, Evelyn battled Acute Myelogenous Leukemia, a secondary blood cancer that was a direct result of the treatment from her lymphoma in 2017. In the end, a clotting complication common in AML patients developed and was not overcome.

    Humboldt State University Athletics stated for the record that Evelyn died cancer free.

    Ev 2, Cancer 0.

    I found comfort walking among the giant redwoods that day. In the forest everything felt small. Like the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrow defines ‘sonder’ as,

    “The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.”

    “An epic story that continues invisibly around you,” the Arcata Community Forest continued on, from the plants above ground to the roots stretched out below. 

    No clue that Evelyn was fighting for her life 300 miles away, the trees have seen so much that her passing didn’t stop them from living their own. I continued to walk the forest feeling like a passerby. For a moment I stopped to appreciate the sun beaming through the tall trees and the tears started to roll again, but this time they weren’t as heavy. My breathing felt light and I was happy, smiling upon memories of shenanigans and chaos with Ev. 

    The sun shining through felt warm and hopeful. I took out my phone and tried to capture what I was seeing. It was magical. The next day, I found out that the timestamp of that moment was the same time the machines were turned off and Ev had taken her last breaths.

    I can’t explain it, but reflecting on that picture and feeling that moment over again, I am constantly inspired. The forest helped me make sense of the heart ache I was feeling. For a couple of minutes on Mon., Feb., 17 at 3:30 p.m., I felt connected to everything.

    As I continue to get my degree in environmental science and management, the pressure of time running out gets heavier. Climate change becomes more daunting and depressing. There is a lot of work that needs to be done. 

    Sometimes shrugging my shoulders and pondering if ignorance really is bliss. But then I remind myself of this moment that I had. In a time of deep mourning, I had the ability to walk in a forest full of old redwoods and heal. I didn’t have to go far to experience a viable ecosystem. 

    The Arcata Community Forest is a treasure. A treasure that not everyone can say they have or will experience. Communities around the world are being trapped into concrete jungles with the natural world degraded around them, when facing sorrows and pain there is no environment to escape to.

    I miss Evelyn Andrews so much. She still amazes me, for even in her last moments she continued to show me the light. She is constantly inspiring me to fight for the environment, to give it my all and metaphorically leave my mark (remember leave no-trace when actually in nature). 

    Everyone deserves a moment out in the environment that makes them feel connected to everything because, “an epic story continues invisibly around you.”

  • Remembering Evelyn: A Ray of Sunshine in Humboldt

    Remembering Evelyn: A Ray of Sunshine in Humboldt

    Members of the community rally to celebrate the life of Evelyn Andrews

    When Evelyn Andrews came to Humboldt State University, she had already beaten cancer once. In her senior year of high school, Andrews successfully fought off lymphoma and made the decision to redshirt her freshman year to recover fully. She expected to be back on the field for her sophomore season.

    Things changed in late September when a bad hop at practice hit Andrews in the face, causing continuous bleeding. After spending time at Mad River Hospital, Andrews went to University of California, Davis, where she was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia.

    Andrews underwent chemo treatment and beat leukemia. Following the treatment, she went back to the hospital for 10 days due to a blood infection that caused additional blood clots throughout her body. Andrews died after being taken off life support Feb. 17.

    Roommate and teammate Morgan Brant took Andrews to the hospital after the injury at practice and knew her since they were both 12 years old.

    “She would just go into a room and light it up.”

    Morgan Brant

    “It crushed her to redshirt her freshman year,” Brant said. “She was just the type of person to put her head down and work and to get the job done. She was always there. She gave you the brutal truth even if you didn’t want to hear it. But you then found out that it was coming from a place of love and a place of compassion. She wanted the best for everybody.”

    Brant said that this was even more clear knowing Andrews off the field.

    “She would just go into a room and light it up,” Brant said. “She had the best sense of humor. She had the best smile and she was just like everybody has said, like a ray of sunshine. She really held a lot of love for everybody in her heart.”

    One thing Andrews brought to the team that has been embraced by the whole organization has been a ‘Don’t Suck’ mentality. Brant said this is something that originally came from Andrews’ family and spread to the rest of the team.

    “It was kind of like a thing that they said when she was struggling at bat,” Brant said. “She said it to Shelli one time and it just kind of became her thing. It was her thing since she was little kid and it just kind of stuck with the team and it showed that brutal honesty. Don’t suck as a person, don’t suck as a player and then you’re going to be successful.”

    Head Softball Coach Shelli Sarchett said the ‘Don’t Suck’ mentality has really been accepted by the whole team, especially when Andrews began cancer treatment for the second time.

    “Once this happened to her we adopted it as a team,” Sarchett said. “It doesn’t mean don’t suck, don’t be afraid to lose. It just means go out there and give your best. And even if your best isn’t good enough at that time, doesn’t mean that you did wrong.”

    • Members of Evelyn Andrews’ family applaud after a speech at her celebration of life ceremony at Lumberjack Arena on Feb. 23. | Thomas Lal
    • A small picture frame stands in the entry to Lumberjack Arena before the Humboldt State Athletics Department holds a celebration of life on Feb. 23 for Evelyn Andrews. | Thomas Lal
    • Members of the Humboldt State softball team and other programs comfort each other at a celebration of life for Evelyn Andrews on Feb. 23.

    As her coach, Sarchett also observed Andrew’s ability to be caring and honest with people as she interacted with her teammates.

    “She was the first person to hug you when you were down and the first person to kick you in the ass when you needed it,” Sarchett said. “She was a role model pretty much and she’s a superhero in our books. She’s a fighter and I think we could all take a little bit from Evelyn and learn about her spirit and use it to our advantage and to help us be better people.”

    Another thing that stood out to Sarchett was how much Andrews cared for the people around her, whether that was her parents and brother or her teammates.

    “It’s been amazing. The outpouring of support from not only the community but the softball community in general.”

    Shelli Sarchett

    “She loved her family,” Sarchett said. “It was all about family for her. Whether it be her actual family or her softball family. She defines that sense of family, that culture that we want here when it comes to family and she’s the daughter that everybody should want. If my daughters have half the heart she does, I’ve done pretty well.”

    Sarchett also said she had never been through anything like this before, but the support from Humboldt State Athletics and the softball community as a whole has been fantastic as herself and the team work through this hard time.

    “It’s been amazing. The outpouring of support from not only the community but the softball community in general,” Sarchett said. “How many coaching colleagues of mine reached out to me and to my assistants. And former coaches of my players reached out and her story has gone a long way, and we can only hope that it’s a lesson in just how to fight for things.”

    Andrews never got the chance to take the field for the Lumberjacks for a game, but her memory will remain with the people she played with and interacted with during her time among the redwoods. Brant was confident that she would remember Andrews for the rest of her life on and off the field.

    “I think we should remember Evelyn as a ray of sunshine,” Brant said. “We were saying it all last weekend when we played Chico. We were playing home games in February. We don’t do that here with the rain. So we really knew that she brought out that sunshine for us and she’s just this positive light and this big ball of energy. She had this beautiful smile and a beautiful mind and she was just always happy. I want people to remember that.”

    Brant pointed out that Andrews wouldn’t have wanted to be remembered as a patient.

    “She wasn’t a cancer patient,” Brant said. “She was someone who just fought cancer. So separating that from who she was as a person was very important to her. She was a ball of life, a ball of sunshine.”