Authored by Sydney Shea
Ever since Jackie was a freshmen and she tried out for volleyball and she instantly knew that it was her passion. Her first game was a very different experience for her; she says “It was very nerve racking since I was starting my first game and I was the middle hitter.” She scored her first kill and ace which are both points.
Jackie had a job over the summer at Shaws but does not currently have since she wasn’t in sports, but during the school year she plays volleyball and that takes up a lot of her time. Jackie is always out and about and hanging out with friends. she explains, “I do not like to just sit around and do nothing.” She is a very caring person, always is making sure other people are okay before she is concerned about herself.
Jackie says, “I tried out for volleyball freshman year for fun and actually ended up falling in love with it….I don’t want to play for a school team in college but I would love to play intramural games for fun!” She thinks she can work on passing since she’s a hitter and wants to continue to learn and work on other positions. She says she definitely sees herself playing because its a huge stress reliever for her but does not see herself going professional. She does want to continue her education at Providence college or Bryant and go into business. Both of those are tough but great schools.
She wishes she could do over her club tryouts because she thinks the team she was on was not living up to her expectations. She would want a different and better club team and to just be an overall better player. To someone starting out in the sport Jackie explains, “Give it your all and work really hard for it because it won’t just come to you.” She also says “I personally did so many clubs and clinics to improve.”
Her favorite thing about volleyball is how it is her happy place and that’s all she wants to do on her worst days–to take out her frustrations on the ball. In her experience being on a team all together has “Been the best experience of my life.” She also says it teaches you how to be a team player, and you get to make friends and meet new people and it’s an awesome experience for her.
As everyone does Jackie did face some setbacks, she worked very hard to get where she is today. She took time to go to camps and clubs to improve. Even though it was truly hard and she admitted “It took so much energy and time out of my life,” she also says, “it eventually paid off.”
Even though volleyball is her favorite sport, Jackie actually doesn’t follow pro volleyball on TV. Her other hobbies includes hanging with friends and family. She is closer with her mom and thinks she had a stronger influence on her. She says, “Volleyball is a hard sport to learn and there are many skills you need to perfect, It takes a good mentality to learn and you need to just let everything go.”
A great memory from volleyball is when she made varsity and it had a huge impact on her and that’s all she wanted since her first year freshman year. She thinks she is heading in a very positive direction. Her last season as a senior ends in 3 weeks and she is very upset about it and she wants to try and continue with volleyball.
Even though she has had her struggles, she has put so much hard work into volleyball. She declared, “It’s most definitely my happy place.”