According to Webster’s Dictionary, someone who is positive is one who expresses clearly, certainly or with complete clarity. In layman’s terms, the definition could be used to describe Allison Beam.

The senior from Lafayette, Ind. uses “positive” to describe her attitude on and off the golf course.

“It was something I learned from my high school golf coach my freshman year,” Beam said. It has stuck with her ever since.

Unlike many successful athletes, Allison did not start playing her sport at an early age.

“I started playing when I was ten years old,” she said. “My brother, Aaron, played and I wanted to be like him.”

While in middle school, Beam was approached by the high school golf coach, Joe Heath. “He basically told me to pursue my golf career,” Beam said.

Little did she know that conversation would lead to many great things in her golf career. As a high school freshman, Beam led her team to a fourth place finish in the Indiana State finals. Under Heath’s direction, Beam was able to set the foundation for a great career.

After Heath’s departure at the end of the season, Beam took what she learned from him and applied it to the rest of her life on and off the course.

Under the tutelage of new coach Glade Montgomery, Beam excelled. She led her team to three more top 10 finishes in the Indiana State finals and was elected captain in both junior and senior years while garnering all-state honors in her final year.

When it was time to pick a college, there were plenty of choices for her to choose from. Beam was being recruited by a number of MAC schools and had one of the top universities in the Midwest in her back yard.

“Purdue was too close,” Beam remarked of her hometown university. “I wanted to go away, but still be halfway close to home.”

NIU had a good location and a coach, Pam Tyska, who reminded Beam of Heath and Montgomery.

“Coach Tyska is great,” Beam said. “She has a very positive approach to golf. You can go out and play terrible on a hole and she is right there keeping you up.”

Tyska has a mutual feeling for Beam.

“Allison is a very determined player,” Tyska said. “Her heart has really elevated her to the level she is at now.”

Fellow senior Tara Hawkins agrees with Tyska. “Allison has always been a hard worker. She has a great personality and she is upbeat and positive on and off the course.”

Before you start to think Beam is all work and no play, there are a few things that prove that theory wrong.

“I am kind of the crazy one on the team,” Beam chuckled. “I think I get that from my brother, Aaron.”

Beam’s ability to see the lighter side of things is always welcome among this group of golfers.

“We are very comfortable around each other and that really helps,” Beam said.

Just like any athlete, Allison has her superstitions.

“When I was in high school, I used to eat at the same Burger King every morning before tournaments,” she said. “I ate a bacon, egg, and cheese croissant meal with a Coke.”

Not quite the breakfast of champions. But the second superstition is one that any golfer must admire.

“Whenever I go to the range I always leave one ball at the tee,” noted Beam. “I feel that I have hit a good enough round that I should be able to leave my last ball there.”

Not just positive, but cocky too.