Personal Statement
As a gymnast, I loved the thrill of doing crazy things that was exciting and made you sacrifice your body. I hoped to do a sport in college, but didn't know if it was going to be gymnastics. After reaching some of the top levels of the sport, and sustaining an injury, I had the opportunity to re-evalute and choose another sport and hoped to find another sport to pursue my dream of being a college athlete. I stil wanted to do a sport that increased my heart rate and was exciting and challenging, so I looked into volleyball. And even at my first tryouts, I immediately fell in love with the sport, and my dream of being a college athlete stayed in my mind.
Attending a private, college-prep school takes a lot of my time. There are academics, AP and honors classes, then sports. I always followed the policy of school then sports, but volleyball was high on my list. My day was wake up, go to school, volleyball, homework, sleep, repeat. But even while I woke up at 5:45, then went to bed at 10:30, I still loved volleyball and school.
In eighth grade, I was new to my school, and it was only my second year of playing, and I made the Junior Varsity team as Libero. I then made the team again the year after as Libero. I wanted to grow as a player, and build more opportunities to get committed to being a college athlete as soon as I could, so I tried-out for club volleyball. Then I made a club team and grew through the experience. As I played more and more volleyball, I began to learn that it was not always about me--that even though I was on the court, I was there with my team, and when I dove on the floor and popped a ball up, it was so my team could get the point, not for myself. So in the process of playing volleyball, I was humbled by my team and the thought of playing for others, not just myself.
Another part of volleyball is being able to make quick decisions that could cost you the point. There could be an amazing hitter on the other side of the net, so you need to be able to read her, and know where to move in the split second you have to move there. Reading hitters is not easy, but in being Libero I have learned to read the hitters better.
And while I was learning about volleyball, my love for archeology grew also. I loved being outside, and discovering new things that we haven't found out yet. Living in the hot desert of Texas for many years, I began to love digging in the heat and going on my mini expeditions with my siblings. That's when I discovered that I loved history-while digging in my back yard and digging up the ancient artifact, the empty soda can. Hopefully someday it will involve the discovery of a Pharoah's tomb.
Being one of five kids in my family, it was always a competition. Who could eat the fastest, who could jump the highest, who could swim the longest. Even though it didn't seem like a big deal back then, it really created who I am today in the sense that now I am more competitive, and I can eat more food, jump higher, and swim longer. My family really influenced who I am today because their love and support, whether it it was treating stinging nettle, seeing who could eat the most grasshopper legs, or when I needed help with homework, they are there for me and help make me the person I am today.
