Personal Narrative: Concordia College Volleyball

Volleyball has been my passion since the sixth grade, I love it with all my heart, and could not imagine my life without it. This past summer I had the opportunity to attend the Concordia College volleyball camp in St. Paul with a few friends from Sartell. It has been sometime since I’ve participated in one of these camps, and I was a bit hesitant about going because I did not know what was expected of me. My mother had signed me up, as she believed that the skills I would learn would make me a better player, truth was, I was not so sure. I told my mom,
“I won’t know anybody, and the girls there will be more experienced than me.” I thought to myself “this is an elite camp what am I going to be doing there interacting with girls from the metro and surrounding areas, who indeed had to be better than I was.” On the trip down I slept most of the way, but the butterflies in my stomach were running into each other.

I met other girls that were “middles” as well. We began to work on elbow position, timing, and approaches; I found that I had a lot of common with them. In order to be successful, bonding with those other girls was necessary and I discovered I was having fun. I met a girl from Wisconsin who was also a middle. We shared skills, encouraged each other to do our best during our games and by the end of the camp I told her, “It was very nice to meet you, and thank you for staying with and encouraging me during these three days.” I discovered that sharing similar interests bonded the team enabling us to work together. When I returned home I realized I had a good time as I shared with my parents many of the skills and experiences that had happened during the week. I heard a lot of “I told you that you would like it!” Next summer I plan to attend another camp so that I can be a better athlete for my home team, and maybe meet some new people along the