A Look at the Future & How it all Began--Iye

 Can’t believe it's the year of 2022! We’ve been talking about this significant year since we were in kindergarten. We were told that this is the year we would be graduating highschool. A year that seemed so far away, has fastly approached. In the next 7 weeks we will be walking down the field with our caps held high and tassels fastened to the right, shining with 2022 engravings on it. It almost feels too good to be true, that this chapter in life is coming to an end. In the next couple months, we will face real life and the challenges that come with it. College, jobs, marriage, and kids are all a part of this next phase in life. The chapter of childhood is almost no longer and most of us haven't even realized it. I now want to take a look back at how it all began... 

All my life I always wanted to find a purpose, a passion. I tried piano, cooking, singing, dancing, but none of those were something that I could honestly call my passion. I looked at others and saw people have something that they knew they were destined to do. I thought okay well if I am not passionate about all those things, then maybe I should try to find a sport. I researched many sports and came to a conclusion that I should try playing volleyball. Little did I know, that decision at the age of 8, would transform my life for the better. When I was eight, my parents signed me up to play recreational volleyball for the city of Rancho Cucamonga. I played for two seasons then could not continue because my parents worked a lot and there was no one to take me to the practices and games. It was like volleyball vanished and became sort of a distant memory. As the years passed by, volleyball was always in the back of my mind and I knew it was something I wanted to pursue again once I got to highschool. When I came to the etiwanda highschool tryouts in the summer of 2019, I didn’t know that decision would pave the way for the next 4 years of my life. I thought I knew the basics of volleyball but was shocked once I arrived at the tryouts. Although I did make the jv team as a freshman, I was behind all the other girls because I did not know much. The coaches saw potential in me, they saw my athletic capabilities and they took a chance on me. If it wasn’t for those exact coaches that were staffed that year, I would not be in the place I am today. After countless hours in the gym, coming home from practice and continuing to work on the basics, I was bumped up to the varsity team by the end of my freshman season. All my hard work had paid off, I was even offered a spot on the top under armor national travel team for my age group that same year. It was really my freshman year that catapulted my entire volleyball career. In the blink of an eye, I turned from a girl who wanted to play volleyball to a competitive volleyball player, traveling across several states playing at the national open level. The idea of playing college volleyball switched from a hopeful dream to a clear reality for me. As the seasons flew by, I caught the eye of many division 1 volleyball programs and it was clear that I had found my passion. After speaking with multiple coaches, researching, and going on official visits, I accepted a full ride scholarship offer to play division 1 volleyball at Cal State Northridge in the Big West Conference. As I write this, I sit here and look back at how it all began and still can’t believe this was all just 4 years ago. This is the story of how I found my passion in life, the sport that has created a bright future for me.

Now might I ask, does the future of life scare you? It scares me for sure! What scares me the most, is trying to picture exactly where I will be in the next 5 years of my life. I wish I had it all planned out, but I don’t. The thought of being an adult within the next 5 years doesn’t even feel real, but someway, somehow, we’ve made it this far. Do you want to stay a kid forever or are you ready to grow up and start your own life? That's a question I ask myself quite often, yet have still not come up with an answer. Could this be teenage fever or am I just scared to face reality? The reality is that each and everyone of us only has 2 months until real life hits us, whether we are ready for it or not. Can’t wait to finish out the school year strong, end this chapter in life, and start a new one. I would encourage everyone to look back on how they came to the point they are currently at in life and envision a future you feel you are destined to have