Let's face it. Most people are not doing what they wanted to do when they were six. The dreams of being a fireman or astronaut drifted away when Underoos gave way to training bras or Fruit of the Loom briefs.

But softball captain Dana Burns isn't like most people -- her childhood aspirations are now a reality.

"I definitely dreamed about playing a sport at Penn State my whole life," she said. "I remember at football games -- and I sat with the same people year after year -- and they always said, 'What are you going to do here Dana?' and I said, 'I'm going to play softball for Penn State.' My whole life I said that."

But at the time, Burns was not playing softball at all. Although she was frequently a spectator at a local fast-pitch league in Phillipsburg, when it came time to play, she went with little league baseball.

"In my area that's all they had," she said. "We just had baseball --there wasn't softball then. It's not unusual though. If you'd talk to most of our team, probably all of them started playing baseball."

Burns switched over in junior high, and continued to play softball, along with volleyball and basketball, at Phillipsburg-Osceola High School. When it came time to choose a college, she surprisingly enrolled at Juniata College.

"My mother wanted me to be at a small school," she said. "The team wasn't very good. There wasn't much competition. I definitely wanted to move on to a different level."

So after the 1990 season at Juniata, Burns transferred to Penn State, and the transition has gone well. In her third season with the Lady Lions, she is one of the team's co-captains, and is hitting .327 with two home runs and seven RBIs. One of her home runs gave Penn State a last-inning upset over No. 17 Notre Dame last weekend.

And while her offensive prowess out of the clean-up spot in the order is certainly a significant contribution to the team, her leadership is valued even more.

"Everbody, especially the underclassmen, really look up to her," co-captain Leigh Bakun said. "I'm sure that they feel very comfortable going to her when they have questions or concerns about the team. And she gets along well with the staff and coaches."

And while Burns may get along well with the coaches, because of her visibility as captain, and role of mediator between Coach Sue Rankin and the team, she is often times at the top of Rankin's discipline list.

"I'm always in trouble," she said. "One time, I had about 25 or 30 study hall hours I had not done. It was a week before spring break, and Sue told me I had to make them up that week or else I wouldn't go on the trip. So I sat in the academic support center from morning 'til night -- for entire days. I'm always in trouble for something."

And the same things that leave Burns in Rankin's doghouse are probably the qualities that make her popular with her teammates.

"She's really easy to get along with," roommate and junior pitcher Beth Reeves said. "She's laid back, and she's a lot of fun actually. She likes to have a good time."