ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Olympic softball player Andrea Howard calls New Mexico home and she fell in love with the sport at a young age.

“My love for softball comes from when I was little. My brother plays baseball and I always wanted to beat him at something and softball comes naturally as a sport that I can beat him at that I can play,” she said.

Eventually, Howard played at La Cueva High School and then at UNM, playing five seasons in the cherry and silver.

When she wasn’t hitting home runs for UNM, she was spending her summers in Italy, playing for their national team.

“I’m a dual citizen, so I was able to play on that Italian team and during my college career I went every summer to Italy and I was able to play with them,” she said.

Howard took to the field with Team Italy in 2021 when they played in the Tokyo Olympics.

“We were either in the Olympic Village or the field, but we couldn’t be anywhere in between. I think that made it even more fun because we were able to kind of bond as a team a little bit more in the village,” she said.

While Howard’s team didn’t make it very far in the Games, she walked away with an unforgettable experience.

“I think it [the most memorable moment] was playing center field and being able stand in the rings. That was super cool,” she said.

After being a Bear, a Lobo and an Olympian, Howard hopes to become a doctor.

“I’ve always been interested in medicine and I knew I wanted to be a doctor one day. And that’s why I chose UNM for softball in college, because I knew they had a great medical school. So now I get to live out my second dream,” she said.

Living out her dream and inspiring other softball players to follow in her footsteps.

“I think if you have that big dream, you can absolutely do it. You just need to put the work in and you will flourish,” Howard said.