Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu '23 Recruiting Profile

I became interested in volleyball after attending a beach tournament with my friends more than five years ago. Seeing how the two athletes worked together to win and had fun doing it was very interesting to me. I immediately knew that I wanted to play and my parents were both supportive of the idea. I began playing indoor volleyball shortly after and instantly fell in love with the sport. The combination of being competitive and making new friends stuck with me and I have continued playing, learning and absolutely loving volleyball. In the future I hope to play in college not only because it is fun, but because having the discipline it takes to be a student athlete will better prepare me for any future life challenge. I want to continue growing as a player and a person and I simply cannot imagine myself doing anything else.

In college I wish to study physical therapy. The mechanics of the human body, how the body moves, and how it recovers from injury and becomes stronger has always interested me. I think it's fascinating how a person can help speed up the recovery process with stretches, exercise, and proper movement. I became interested in physical therapy after I had to go therapy myself. My therapist made the experience enjoyable and memorable, and though I was very young, I knew I wanted to do the same for others. I have since had the opportunity to learn more about the practice of physical therapy from other practitioners and find myself still interested in and wanting to learning more.