On top of being a full-time student and college baseball player, graduate senior A.J. Kostic obtained his United States citizenship in June.
The business management major was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta in Canada. He also lived in Queensland, Australia when he was seven. At 13, he and his parents moved to Surprise, Arizona.
“My parents wanted to give me a better chance to play baseball, somewhere where there’s more opportunity,” Kostic said. “And we wanted to get out of Canada to be in warmer weather.”
Kostic said obtaining his citizenship journey has been a decade-long journey.
“I got sworn in in June, but the process took a lot longer,” he said. “Before the process started, we could only stay in America for six months a year, so we were going back and forth. Once we got our green card, we had to basically prove that we could live in America for eight years without committing a crime or anything. Once you pass that, there’s a naturalization step, you file for citizenship and then you take the test. So, it’s a long process.”
A part of obtaining citizenship includes an interview process, Kostic said.
“You have to go in and get interrogated, and they like you to be very serious,” he said. “They asked me, ‘Are you a terrorist? Do you plan to practice polygamy? Is this really what your parents are doing here?’ It’s really weird.”
After passing the test and being sworn in, he said he is proud to officially call himself an American.
“After living in two other countries — they were good countries, too — I see America is overall a better place to live,” he said. “There’s this ability to be successful here that is better than any other country and I’m glad to be a part of that. And I mean, it was also cool that I can actually vote now.”
Throughout his college career, he has lived in Michigan, Montana and Texas.
“I think Texas is great,” he said. “It definitely has the most strength and pride as an individual state. Texas is self-sufficient and I think a lot of people love that.”
Living across the country from his family for the past six years has been a challenge for him and his parents, Kostic said.
“I’m kind of used to it by now, but it’s definitely hard,” he said. “I call them every night. I’m an only child, so that gets hard on them, especially my mom.”
Kostic said that his father has been a big influence.
“I think I lean on him the most,” he said. “He really got me more into my faith in Jesus and what it meant to be a believer. A lot of people change who they are in college and fall off, but he helped me navigate through all that.”
He said he plans to pursue baseball after graduating.
“There’s the MLB draft in July, and if you don’t get drafted, you can sign as a free agent and go play for the minor league teams, or you can play overseas,” he said. “But I don’t know if I really want that. I’d love to go to Japan, but I’d rather try to make a minor league team first.”
Kostic said he plans to use his masters in business for a nutrition company.
“I got a patent for the first effervescent creatine tablet,” he said. “I’m going to use it to grow my company I started called Cre Nutrition.”
Kostic said he is looking forward to his time at Lamar and what the university offers him.
“I think that’s what I’m most excited for, the baseball season,” he said. “I’ll get my master’s degree here, too, so that’s kind of sweet.”
He is able to play through six years of eligibility due to time off for injuries. He has had knee, elbow and facial reconstruction surgeries.
“The elbow was probably the hardest one — it took over a year to recover,” he said. “I blew it out in the middle of a game on ESPN, and my mom was watching back home. That was my biggest obstacle. It made me lean on my faith more. But it made me stronger.”
Kostic will pitch for the Cardinals this spring, kicking off the season with a home series against Oakland University, Feb. 13.
The full spring schedule is available at lamarcardinals. com/sports/baseball.