Sports have always been a big part of my life because it was my means of relieving all the stress that comes with being apart of this world. More importantly, it helped me to work with others. I have always been an independent person and I never liked relying on anyone and hated working in groups. However, over the years I have come to realize that working with others is a part of life and it is essentially the best way to get through all the challenges that may arise. I grew up in the volleyball gymnasium watching my dad play volleyball. I could remember running around in the gym after loose balls and chasing my friends under the benches. Back in the day, volleyball had not adopted the rally point scoring like today. Before, the rules only allowed the team that was serving to win the point. These rules prolonged the game so it was not out of the ordinary if a game started at 8 p.m. and ended at 1 a.m.

I started playing volleyball at the age of 13 for my junior high school in the 8th grade. Somehow, I was actually setting for the team, a position that I would never play against tough competition. It was tough that year and we did not do as well as I thought we could have done. The next year I tried out for the team and I found it difficult to manage because I was preparing for my BJC Examination, which is a national exam for all students in the 9th grade. The only reason why it was hard to manage was because I had extra classes after school for a course that was not even offered at my school. I told my coach Mr. Albury that I would not be able to make it to practice twice a week because I had to go to classes after school. He responded, “Are you asking me or telling me this. On second thought even if you are asking it does not make any sense you even try out if you are not going to be able to make it to practice.” At that point, I came to the realization that he did not care about my academics; he only cared about the team. The funny thing is that at graduation he said that I was the first student that ever stood up to him and went against what he said and because of that he gave me the student-athlete award.

After I moved onto high school, I joined the Technicians Volleyball Club, which at that point was possibly the best volleyball club in the country. We trained hard and traveled a lot. Most of the members on the team had been on a National Team before so I took it as an opportunity to learn from a lot of the players that came before me. Their knowledge and wisdom helped me to make it on my first Junior National Team. That year the team traveled to Aruba. We were a very inexperienced team and we knew the next time we would go to the tournament we would be ready for whatever the other Caribbean countries threw at us. The second team that I made was during the summer of my freshman year at college. This time the tournament was in the U.S. Virgin Islands on the island of St. Thomas and we were more than ready for the other countries. We had the best talent but we were unable to pull of the win as a team. Nonetheless, I know it is only a matter of time when a team of that much experience and talent is put together again and this time instead of taking home all the individual awards, we will take home the gold medal.

Now I am at college and have decided not to play at college but to focus on my studies and building a resume. Instead, I have decided to take the knowledge that I have and put it into the women’s program at my college. I love working with the girls and I believe working with the team has helped me to become a better athlete because now I have been on both ends of the spectrum. I have been the athlete being shouted at by the coach and I have been the coach shouting at the athlete, which I try never to do. Lol. Nonetheless, I can say volleyball is a part of who I am and I will never trade it in for the world.