Nadia Ernest '19 Recruiting Profile

    In college I aspire to study a course in biology in order to continue my dream of becoming a medical professional. Out of all the sports I have participated in, volleyball is most definitely my favorite sport which I show the most passion for. I first got into volleyball in the 8th grade and felt unsure of how I would fair compared to my fellow peers, considering it was the first time I participated in volleyball. However I developed a liking for this new sport and continued to play volleyball through middle school and high school. My will to play volleyball was heavily tested when I first made the varsity volleyball team in the 10th grade. I started at the bottom of the varsity team, having little playing time during the beginning of the season. However this only drove my passion and competitive spirit further, driving me to take extra time out of my weekends and days off to play volleyball and practice various skills in order to rise up and fight for the setter position for the team.  That experience of nonstop training and rising to the top strongly describes my work ethic in sports and academics. Even now as one of the captains of the varsity volleyball team I continue to push myself in order to keep getting better. I am very competitive and even thinking about volleyball gets my heart pumping with adrenaline. Volleyball is very much an outlet for me, who my peers consider a somewhat reserved person, to show my competitive spirit. Something that could make me different from other recruits is my lack of experience in club teams. Unfortunately, there are little to no volleyball clubs that are located near Valley Stream that could fit in with my vigorous academic schedule of AP classes and accelerated courses. However I am very willing and ready to overcome this obstacle in my path by spending more of my free time to practice and improve on techniques and skills I need improvement on and train more than the normal person to achieve my goal.  After achieving the All Conference title from the Nassau Volleyball Coaches Association in 2017 my confidence has greatly increased considering the amount of club volleyball players I had to compete with to earn that title. 

     I also believe my experiences on teams like the varsity fencing team and track team greatly help my attitude and confidence towards competing . I see it as also a means of staying active in the off season of volleyball. I do a very good job at keeping up on my grades and am willing to work harder to complete work in any environment. I understand that college sports require travelling. In this regard I am very much willing to obtain work from professors ahead of time and stay on top of my work even when travelling. As an aspiring medical professional and college athlete I take both my education and sports very seriously, and I am very committed and willing to overcome as many obstacles my athletic and academic career may face.