Tears streamed any time Alison Lam wore a dress as a child.

Today donning frills is not quite as dramatic for 17-year-old Lam. She does still prefer sports, however. The senior graduating from Notre Dame High School has bigger plans than wearing skirts and cleats. She heads to New York this fall to study at Columbia and continue to play softball.

“Alison Lam is the epitome of a Notre Dame, Belmont graduate. She has excelled in the classroom, served her fellow students in a variety of leadership positions, extended herself in generous service to the many communities to which she belongs and demonstrated what it means to be a scholar athlete,” said Principal Rita Gleason.

Lam, who lives in South San Francisco, grew up exploring interests of her older brother Erik. Like Erik, Lam played pee wee baseball and basketball. While playing basketball one day at 10, Lam was noticed. She threw the ball across the court hitting the wall. The throw caught the eye of a softball club coach in the audience, inspiring Lam’s transition from baseball to softball.

Hitting became a challenge for Lam in the transition since softballs and baseballs curve differently when pitched.

“I struck out every time when I was 10,” Lam said with a smile. She was the only 10-year-old who wasn’t a pitcher and had a designated hitter while playing for the West Bay Nuggets.

She switched to a fast-pitch traveling softball club team called Strike Zone her freshman year.

This year, Lam was the leadoff hitter for Notre Dame with an average of over .500 and a tendency to score 75 percent of the time she got on base, said coach George Silvey.

“She’s tenacious,” he added, noting he can’t recall ever working with a player with such good statistics after a 25-game season. “She’s a truly wonderful young lady.”

Lam was also involved in basketball from fourth grade at St. Veronica’s in South San Francisco. She continued through sophomore year but finally had to choose between the competing practice schedules. The decision was hard for Lam, but ultimately she chose to continue playing softball, both at Notre Dame and with Strike Zone. At school, she plays right field. With club ball, she plays outfield.

It’s not always about music for Lam who boosts a 4.5 weighted grade point average. She dabbled in music while in elementary school. Lam began with saxophone but realized it was too big for her small frame. She switched to clarinet, but stopped in eighth grade.

Once in high school, Lam found a place where she felt comfortable and like others listed to and valued her opinion.

“I feel like now I can go out and expand my horizons because I feel confident,” she said.

Lam has been part of the Ambassadors Club, a group that speaks at other schools about Notre Dame, all four years. She was a member of the Asian-Pacific Islander Club for three years and a freshman mentor last year. During her junior year, Lam joined the liturgy club WAVE — also known as Worship, Advocate, Volunteer and Empower.

This year, Lam holds a position on the Associated Student Body, a group of students who rotate to hold various positions overseeing the school.

When it came time to look for schools, Lam began approaching a number of prestigious schools at the encouragement of her softball coach. The coach from Columbia University contacted Lam right before the deadline to apply. She went for it, and now plans to attend in the fall. She plans to continue playing softball and maybe participate with an intramural basketball team.

While at Columbia, Lam plans to study medicine possibly with the goal of becoming an optometrist. Her parents immigrated to America from the Philippines. Lam noted how hard they worked. She wants to go into a field that will allow her to help others, possibly return to the Philippines to do so.

Notre Dame High School graduation is 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 3 at the St. Pius Catholic Church in Redwood City.

Heather Murtagh can be reached by e-mail: heather@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 105.