My parents always were very supportive to me being involved in athletics. I was involved in everything I could be, and my parents were always there to drive me, watch games, etc. They were always very encouraging to me, and always pushed me to do my best. When I reached high school I found that I could excel both in athletics and academics. I became involved in just about every organization I could, and was a four-sport athlete. I felt somewhat limited in high school because of our size ??? we only had sports like basketball, volleyball, track, baseball, and football. I always wanted to know what it was like to play field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, etc. For our track program at my high school we used the playground and parking lot for our track because we did not have one. And yet, we went sent athletes to the state track and field meet every year, and placed!

Basketball was my first passion at grade five. I would practice basketball non-stop. I would go out in my driveway in the winter with gloves, a hat, jacket, etc. and I would shoot until my parents made me come in to get ready for bed. I would run sprints in my driveway and would go on jogs and bike rides dribbling my basketball at my side.

Excelling so young at basketball became a downfall for myself as it caused me much adversity throughout my early high school years. A coaching change took me out of the starting lineup on the varsity team since the new coach played only juniors and seniors. It was a very tough year in my life, but taught me so much about life, leadership, and adversity. We only won two games that season, and that???s when I found a passion for something new.

Volleyball became my passion when I was a junior in high school, although I believe I was a better competitor in track. I was convinced by a woman at a volleyball camp I attended to join club volleyball. Club volleyball opened many opportunities for me and allowed me to start looking at colleges where I could play. I had better offers coming my way for track, but my increasing passion for volleyball easily let me turn them down. My parents were a little hesitant because I was turning down ???full rides,??? but they understood and supported my decision.

The recruiting process was very interesting and exciting. I had visited a few schools I became interested in, and had it narrowed down to Marquette University, Wheeling Jesuit University, and Mount Olive College. I became sure after my visit that Wheeling Jesuit was the college for me. My parents loved the campus, the coach, and the fact that it was only 12 hours away so they could come watch me play.

My last visit was Mount Olive and as I was flying there, I had my mind set on Wheeling Jesuit. My parents were not able to fly with me to Mount Olive, so I was on my own. Something about Mount Olive made me feel right at home. I was greeted by the sweetest and most polite people I had ever met. Everyone was so friendly, helpful, and inviting. I had no clue how student-athletes could survive in such a small place. As I got to know Mount Olive and everyone on campus, I realized that everyone else was also attracted to something special about this college. I fell in love with it immediately, and gave my parents a shocking call telling them I would like to attend this college 22 hours from home.

Mount Olive has such a great population of students and student-athletes. We have a great faculty that works very well with the student-athletes, and really cares about our personal well-being. We have a great athletics department that keeps us updated on important NCAA functions and events. Our college keeps attracting more and more student-athletes because Mount Olive teaches not only athletics, but about life. Mount Olive is dedicated to making us into people that will go out and change the world.