Sara Wylie '21 Recruiting Profile

    Hi! I am Sara, a student-athlete from a small town in Colorado. I have found my love for volleyball through the coaches, teammates, and support in my little town. I grew up in a home with parents that constantly pushed me out of my comfort zone to get better and an older brother that set very high expectations for me to try to reach or exceed. I wish I could say I have always had the passion I have now for volleyball, but that is not the case. My appreciation for the intricacy and competitiveness of this sport developed as I did physically, but even more as I developed mentally.  

    My goals and aspirations are drastically different now than when I first stepped on a varsity court my freshman year in 2017. At that time, all of my dreams were self centered. I didn't want anything but to be the 'best' on the team. But, now that I am older I now know that having the most kills isn't necessarily what makes me an 'all-star.' I now strive to better myself by helping those around me. I try my best to put in my full effort because I know that if I do everything I can it will show on the court.  I aspire to be a teammate that lifts and motivates others. Since becoming a setter, I have also found a knew appreciation for watching others on my team succeed. I have learned that for me to be successful, my team has to be successful. This mindset has gotten me miles from where I started my freshman year.

    I also aim to compete academically. I try to take classes that expand beyond my box and challenge me . I took my first college class my sophomore year and have continued to add more. I am an honor roll student, 1st in my class, I have been recognized as gifted and talented in math, and am a quick learner. As a young student my mother taught me to be a focused student. I grew up knowing that academic is always first behind family.

    I think my determination, credibility, and meticulousness  are some of my strongest characteristics. I feel I learned most of these before I was serious on the court. When I was young my family and I lived on the family farm. From the time I was old enough to walk I helped out as much as I could. My parents taught me I do my job the best I possibly can and never give anything less %110 whether it was cleaning out the chicken coop, writing a paper, or playing sports. I feel one of the times you can best see my determination was when I missed part of my volleyball season in 6th grade. I got a rare medical condition and went into sepsis and septic shock. I was put in a medically induced comma for 9 days and lost a lot of weight. After I was awake, I could hardly even walk, but I followed all of the doctors orders, tried to gain weight, and did physical therapy and got to play a little bit of volleyball towards the end of the season. I also feel I am a person that anyone can count on. I learned the importance of credibility this year a lot being a Colorado FBLA state officer. I had a lot of tasks handed to me, and being the only junior  executive officer, I had the biggest adjustment. I had an organization with over 6,000 members counting on me to be on top of all of my deadlines. But, I was able to adapt quite quickly.

    I would also argue that my competitiveness would set me apart from most high schoolers. I credit this to my brother. I grew up across the hall from someone I looked up to and strived to be like. Everything we do is a competition: playing 21(basketball game) in the driveway, report cards, how fast we could clean our rooms, or who could get buckled in the car first. He has also taught me to be competitive with myself. I watched him never be pleased and constantly push himself. I watched him grow from being a timid little boy to a man on a full ride

to a pre-med college. I try everyday to never be satisfied and to take everything I do to the next step, just like my roll model.