Parys Kennedy '24 Recruiting Profile

Medicine has a nasty taste. At least the good ones. The ones that truly help your body taste absolutely disgusting. This is volleyball. Volleyball is my medicine. I truly hated sports when I was a kid. I hated gym classes a lot. I would embarrass myself in front of everyone as I try to play basketball, football or soccer. I joined the soccer team and utterly made a fool out of myself. I swore I would never play a sport in my life every again. That wasn't the bruise or the sickness that volleyball saved me from though. The sickness was depression and the inability to control my anxiety. The sickness was the feeling of the world crumbling beneath my feet and my hand reaching out to grab something, but nothing was available. Volleyball reached out and grabbed me out the pit. As I said, I hated sports. I wouldn't have expected the thing that I swore against, would save me. Quarantine was a time for self-healing and a time to try something new. Volleyball came knocking on my door and that's when I decided to give it a try. I fell in love with it. Many people tried to push me down because of how bad I was, but those same people would ask me to teach them as soon as I had gotten better. I'm glad I never gave up even though I wanted to so many times. This medicine helped me cope when I felt like I had nothing to hold on to. I am completely grateful for volleyball, and I thank God for revealing the sport to me. Overall, I unlocked determination and perseverance throughout my time playing volleyball. Even though it has only been a year of me taking this sport seriously, I can admit I have learned a lot and gained new attributes as a person.