Olivia Joachim '19 Recruiting Profile

I want to play volleyball in college because I very much enjoy the fast pace, quick decisions, and family feeling of volleyball. I played lacrosse for nine years and thought I would play lacrosse in college but I started playing volleyball in sixth grade at my middle school, and then started playing club volleyball after my freshman year of high school. I really fell in love with the sport the club season of my tenth grade year because of my coach, Kameron Beans. He taught me that to get better, the passion has to come from me. No coach can make me want to get better, I have to want to get better for myself, and I have to play for myself and my teammates. He taught me to discipline myself and hold myself to high standards, and always keep pushing to grow on and off the court. I still love lacrosse, and continue to play it for my high school, but I gave up playing club lacrosse after my freshman year in high school so I could focus on volleyball. This past year (2018 spring) I won MVP for my high school Varsity Lacrosse team, which won the county and regional championships and went to the state final four.  It was difficult to juggle club volleyball, high school lacrosse, and a rigorous junior year schedule where I took AP classes for the first time (AP Psych, AP Lang, and AP Chem). But as a result, I've become very adept at time management, prioritizing, and planning. I stayed on top of all my classes, and even excelled in them, achieving a 4.12 GPA my junior year. In addition, I'm the head of my school's blood drive for National Honor Society. I really grew this year as a player, but more so as a person. I am determined,  hard working, and I never want to settle for "okay." I strive to be the best possible version of myself on the volleyball court, on the lacrosse field, in the classroom, and as a human being.