“I’ve always loved playing sports. It has been a lot, but I loved every second of it.
My dad really encouraged me to start sports. He went to Bellaire and played lacrosse there. He put me in basketball when I was 6 years old. Then, I played a bit of every sport when I was little.
Volleyball is really my passion sport. I started playing in seventh grade and pretty much went all in on volleyball. That’s why I play with Houston Stellar Volleyball Club outside of school.
I met all my best friends freshman year playing volleyball. That has helped me to stay passionate about it because literally all my best friends play. I love getting to see them every day.
It’s harder not seeing them outside of the volleyball season. But we’ve been friends literally since freshman-year tryouts until now. We’re all still a friend group. That’s really the special part about volleyball to me.
Volleyball has definitely given me really good time-management skills. I would have volleyball practice in the morning and then two practices after school between volleyball and basketball. That often left me no time for homework and other things. I really learned how to manage my time and sit down to focus on my work when I have any time to do it or do it during the day. It’s given me organization and study habits that I will carry with me for sure.
Sometimes, I just don’t have time to spend with my friends. This can be hard to explain to people that aren’t exactly in the same situation. Not being able to spend as much time with my friends, even if I want to, is definitely hard.
I think something interesting for me specifically is when I played basketball, I was told that I play like a volleyball player. For example, when I do my layups, it’s like I’m playing volleyball. Also, when I played volleyball, I was told, ‘You’re playing this like you’re a basketball player.’
I think the skills in my different sports translate to each other in good and bad ways because there’s obviously specific techniques, like layups for basketball and blocking for volleyball. But I think that’s kind of interesting since it’s not a completely different experience from the other sport. Both of them are interwoven with each other.
Sports are such a good way to bring people of different backgrounds and cultural identities together in a way that they may never otherwise connect. I met so many different people because we’ve been brought together by this sport. Now, I’m good at talking with others, meeting new people and being able to bring others together.
I learned not to be afraid to try new things along the way. The people at school are here to help you branch out and try new things. It is really important in high school to step out of your comfort zone.”
