Most of the NIU softball team is from three states; Illinois, Indiana and California.

However, that is not the case for freshmen Nicole Gremillion and Shelby Miller.

Gremillion is a pitcher and an outfielder from Missouri City, Texas. She started playing softball when she was 8, and she played high school softball at Elkins High School.

Miller is an infielder from Ottawa, Kansas. She began her softball career when she was nine when she played on a summer league team, and continued her softball career playing at Ottawa Township High School.

But why would they choose to come so far from home and play softball for NIU?

One reason that both Gremillion and Miller shared was head coach Lindsay Chouinard and the rest of the staff.

“What drew me to Northern Illinois originally was the coaches during the recruiting process,” Miller said. “They sold the school to me, and said that they had a solid softball program that was improving and that I could also receive a great education.”

Another draw for Gremillion to the school was the girls that were on the team.

“I came to the school during the recruiting process and I met the girls when I was here,” Gremillion said. “They were really welcoming to me, and I felt like they were the type of people that I would like to get to know and connect with.”

Both of the girls were happy with their decisions to come to NIU, but it was a little harder for Miller to adjust to living out of state.

“Being out of state in general is hard,” Miller said. “It’s a much different lifestyle compared to what I am used to. It is also different when on weekends some of the girls go home because they live close to home and I have to stay. It was hard knowing that I wasn’t going to get to home until Christmas.”

Living out of state was easier for Gremillion. She always had the thought of going to school out of state and it was something that she wanted to do.

“I really wanted to expand my options for school outside of Texas,” Gremillion said. “I was all for going to school out of state and that is another reason I thought Northern was a good choice for me.”

It did not take long for Gremillion and Miller to adjust to living out of state and being at NIU. They got the hang of it pretty quick with a little help.

“It was not hard for me to adjust to living out of state and being so far from home,” Gremillion said. “The girls on the team made it easy to get used to it here. Everyone on the team has such strong bonds with each other and we all mesh together very well.”

Now that the girls have gotten used to living out of state and away from home, they have nothing but MAC conference play on their minds.

“As a team we have come along way since the beginning of the year,” Miller said. “We have made a lot of improvements and we are excited to get into conference play and show everyone what we can do.”