West Union senior Annabelle Bushelman balances softball, school, and future plans

Annabelle Bushelman’s senior profile is more than a quick snapshot of a West Union High School athlete. It shows how much it takes for an Adams County student to make it from the spring softball field to a realistic post-graduation plan, with school pressure, family support, and a healthcare career all running at once.

A familiar senior profile with a practical edge

The People’s Defender has turned its weekly senior profile series into a steady look at Adams County student-athletes, and Bushelman fits that format in a way that feels especially grounded. She attends West Union High School, plays softball, and is identified in the profile as the daughter of Sam and Cristy Crawford, Hammer Bushelman. The point of the series is simple, but important: it lets the community see local seniors not just as names on a roster, but as young people trying to finish high school with direction.

Bushelman’s profile works because it connects three things that matter in a small county: the demands of athletics, the pull of academics, and the question of what comes next. She is not presented as a polished highlight reel. She comes across as a student who is still balancing the ordinary pressure of senior year with the bigger task of building a future.

Softball is the center, but not the whole story

Softball is the sport Bushelman plays in high school, and it is also her favorite sport. That matters because the profile shows how a team game can shape a student’s daily routine and identity. She said the best part of high school sports is "My team." That answer gets at what many student-athletes know well: the friendships, shared effort, and trust that make the long season feel worth it.

She was just as direct about the hard part. The least favorite part of high school sports, she said, is "It’s stressful." That line is easy to read as routine, but it reflects the real burden that comes with games, practices, grades, and expectations all landing on the same teenager. In a small-school setting, where athletes often wear several hats at once, that pressure can feel constant.

Her most memorable sports moment, "When I almost hit a home run," gives the profile personality without turning it into a highlight package. It is a small answer, but it says a lot about how close calls and near-breakthroughs stay with athletes. For a senior season, that kind of moment matters because it captures both the fun and the frustration of competing.

West Union’s softball program gives that personal story a current backdrop. MaxPreps listed the varsity girls team as active in the 2025-26 season and reported a 14-12 win over Western on April 22, 2026. That makes Bushelman’s senior year part of an active, ongoing team effort rather than a memory from seasons past.

The student behind the uniform

Bushelman’s profile also gives a fuller look at who she is away from the field. She named Alice in Chains as her favorite artist, said Colorado is the place she would most like to visit, and picked 10 Things I Hate About You as her favorite movie. She also chose The Walking Dead as her favorite television series and history as her favorite subject.

Her favorite spare-time activity is crocheting, a detail that adds a quieter side to a profile built around athletics. She also said her favorite restaurant is "Anything Mexican." That mix of answers does what good senior profiles should do: it shows a teenager with specific interests, not just a jersey number and a batting order spot.

One of the most revealing answers in the profile was her choice of who she would trade places with for a day. Bushelman said she would swap places with her grandpa. In a short interview, that single answer suggests how important family is in her life and how strongly her everyday outlook is shaped by people outside school.

Why her next step matters in Adams County

Bushelman’s future plan is to become a phlebotomist, and that gives the profile a larger community meaning. In a county like Adams, healthcare careers are not abstract. They are part of the local infrastructure that determines whether residents can get routine care close to home, whether blood work is accessible, and whether young people can build stable jobs without leaving the area.

The numbers help explain why that matters. Adams County had a population of 27,477 in the 2020 Census, and the Census Bureau estimated 27,865 residents as of July 1, 2025. According to Census Bureau estimates, 24.1% of county residents are under 18 and 19.6% are 65 or older. The same estimates show that 8.9% of residents under 65 lack health insurance. In a county with both a large youth population and a significant older population, the need for dependable healthcare access is not theoretical.

A phlebotomy path can fit that need in a very direct way. Southern State Community College offers a Certified Phlebotomy Technician training program that introduces students to phlebotomy, teaches how to draw blood from patients and donors, and builds patient communication skills. For a student like Bushelman, that creates a concrete bridge from high school to healthcare work that is close enough for a local family to imagine and practical enough to matter in the county economy.

What West Union families can take from her path

Bushelman’s profile is useful because it shows the real shape of opportunity for Adams County seniors. The route is not just talent, and it is not just ambition. It is a mix of team experience, school discipline, personal interests, family influence, and a post-graduation plan that can turn into training and work.

That is what makes her story more than a pleasant senior feature. It is a reminder that in West Union, a student’s next step often depends on whether the community can see the path clearly enough to support it. Bushelman’s profile points to one of those paths, and it runs from the softball field to healthcare training, with family, school, and persistence carrying the middle.