by Dan Froehlich, Auburn Media Relations
If you look up 'Dedicated' in the dictionary, you will find it means "devoted to a task or purpose; having single-minded loyalty or integrity."
If you look up senior swimmer Foster Ballard's bio, you will not see "Dedicated" anywhere in the list of accolades, but maybe it should be first among all of them.
Growing up in Eclectic, Alabama, Foster's dedication to swimming was evident through his persistence.
After fully committing to the sport at 8 years old, Foster fell so in love with swimming that as a high school student he would make the hour-plus drive from his home to the Martin Aquatics Center sometimes twice a day to stay competitive in the sport.
"It was an hour here and an hour back and I just didn't think about it too much," he said. "When I first started (with Auburn Aquatics) I was 15 and my mom drove me, but the day I turned 16 she was like, 'Here's the keys, drive yourself!' I don't know if I thought about it as much back then as now as that's a lot of commitment.
"That was at the start of high school and I always knew that if I wanted to get serious in high school I had to sacrifice some things," he said. "I just didn't think about how much I had to sacrifice. I didn't know anything different."
The sacrifice was real. A typical day was a wake-up at 4 a.m., arrive at practice by 5:30 a.m. and be back to school in Eclectic by 8 a.m. After getting done with school at 3:30 p.m., a 10-minute power nap and quick bite to eat preceded another trip to Auburn for a 5-7:30 p.m. practice, putting him back at home between 8:30 and 9 p.m., just in time to eat and do homework before going to bed.
The sacrifice and dedication paid off as schools, including Auburn, took notice. However, the love for Auburn was not mutual. Sure, he came to campus almost daily throughout high school, but taking classes here as a college student?
"It was never Auburn, actually," he said. "I always respected people that came here and I always respected the team, but being here for four years (on the club team), I didn't want to stay in the same pool and the same place. Home is only an hour away."
However, after his first choice fell through due to his asthma, Foster found himself taking a closer look at the school he never even walked the campus of during four years of coming to it daily.
"All I knew was that corner of campus," he said of the area where the Martin Aquatics Center sits.
Finally, a walk around campus and a few misguided trips to find the building science center followed, with students directing him to the chemistry building over and over, but that ultimately did not deter him.
"I was walking down the stairs at the baseball parking lot and there are two girls in front of me," he said.
The young women were both students at Auburn and members of a local church who were walking around campus praying for people. They asked him if there was anything they could do for him.
"Yeah, I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing with my life right now," he said. "Nowhere I went did someone treat me like that or reach out and expose themselves like that. Auburn's a pretty special place if they have people like that on their campus."
After a weekend visit where he got to know the team, he was sold.
"I fell in love at that point," he said. "God has his timing in everything. I never thought I would go to school here and now four years later I'm in love and I would never trade it for anything."
Now, as he approaches his final SEC and NCAA Championship meets, Foster, who was awarded a scholarship this past summer for his hard work and dedication and is a two-time team captain, has one last month of single-minded loyalty to give to his team.
"I have the opportunity to end on a good note," he said. "I've had a lot of great memories here, a lot of good friends made. I'd like to say I played a good role here and I'm happy with my career."
Of course, none of this would be possible if it weren't for the love and support of his family.
"I have a tremendous amount of gratitude for my parents," he said. "I owe them a lot for making the sacrifices for me to be able to have the dedication."