Steven Gao '21 Recruiting Profile

Volleyball wasn't my first sport, in fact I used to fence for 5 years before I had even thought about Volleyball. But, from the moment I approached the world of Volleyball I couldn't leave it. I had an obsession with the sport and tried my best to perfect every part of my game until I hit a limit, a physical limit. I was always an active kid when I was young, I would go out and run and play capture the flag with my friends in the fields, but I became the typical chubby boy as I entered middle and high school. I had always wanted to lose weight, but had never had any driving factor for me to do so, so for many years I would lose weight and gain it back without much progress at all. It was only after a year and a half of playing volleyball that I realized that if I wanted to succeed I would have to change physically. I reached a peak of 215 lbs in my sophomore year around Christmas and I decided that I couldn't do what I wanted to if I stayed at my weight, I wouldn't be able to play Volleyball at a higher level and at the intensity I wanted to. So for the next 5 months I dedicated myself to losing weight and I lost 50 lbs, but not only did my physicality change, my world changed completely. It wasn't only feeling better about myself, but my mentality changed because I knew that because of my hard work I could pursue Volleyball at a higher level. From then on the success I started to see drove me to aspire for more and it became an obsession with the game that I knew I wanted to play at a higher level, in college. I may not be the #1 student that you see academically, but I am motivated because I know that I can achieve the goals that I set and that regardless of what others are doing I am doing my best to set an example for myself so that I keep on working hard to pursue the things that I enjoy.