Ava Chovanec is an ASU student at the Cronkite School assigned to cover Chandler High School for AZPreps365.com

Kambria “Kami” Anson is the epitome of the term “student-athlete” putting her education at the forefront of her softball.

“Being a student before an athlete is the most important thing because for softball, there is no professional. There is no career after softball so I have to put all my effort into school first, because that’s where my life is going to be after playing,” said Anson.

She was awarded with Math Student of the Year from her math teacher, Kathryn Quintana, last year. She was also nominated for History Student of the Year.

“I nominated Kami because she’s extremely organized and always has her work done ahead of time. She’s very dedicated to her work and her studying,” said Quintana. “Even when she’s out for softball she makes sure she has all her work completed before she goes.”

Quintana said Anson is extremely gifted, one of the top scorers in her class.

Coach Jana Rae Slayton said the way Anson is on the softball field transfers to how she is in the class room.

“She’s very goal-oriented and very positive and is not afraid to work to get what she wants. She doesn’t back away from challenges,” said Slayton.

“So when it comes to her class work she does the same thing. She expects nothing less than perfection and she’s willing to do the work to get there.”

Anson is one of Slayton’s go-to players. She relies on Anson to get things done, but also think about things she doesn’t as a coach.

“She’s our communicator, our organizer. She’s the person we go to when we have questions from a players perspective. Kami is the one who can give us a real, solid, realistic answer and not just what we want to hear,” said Slayton.

But how does Anson balance the 4.59 grade point average student and the talented softball player life? Many calendars and time management.

“I have this big calendar in my room, I have a paper calendar and a planner. I just love writing things out making sure it’s in every single calendar I can to make sure I’m getting to where I need to be,” said Anson.

Anson is a senior outfielder and catcher for the Wolves. She’s signed to Grinell College where she will continue her education and softball career. She will be pursuing the 3-2 engineering program Grinell offers, which allows students three years to complete their bachelor’s then go on to one of the engineering programs with other universities they work with.