Savannah Johnson '18 Recruiting Profile

I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the influence of my family. My family has taught me many things throughout my life, and they’ve been there for me through everything. From supporting my academic challenges to my interest in multiple sports, my family always encouraged me to do my best. When I was about 10, a family friend recommended I come and practice with their team just to get a beginners experience. About a year later, I went with my sister to an open volleyball clinic practice at our district park, one of the girls that I met there invited me to join their club. Since then, I have grown to love the game. Over the years I learned I can be a talented athlete, but without passing grades, not only will it prevent me from playing, but it will get in the way of my future. Since I started school, I have always struggled to keep up. In trying to overcome these obstacles, I’ve learned that I excel in sports, cooking, and math, and that I enjoy competing and being challenged to figure things out. Even though I sometimes fall behind, I always find a way to get back on track. My goals as a high school senior is to graduate with a 2.5 GPA or higher. I know that it will be hard to do, but I plan to do my best to be successful. I plan to go to college, and hope to have a smooth transition into the college setting. I want to be able to keep up with all my school work and pick courses that will help me to choose a career path. To get there, I know I will have to work hard and get through many obstacles. Where I am today is a testimony to everything I’ve done to prove to myself that I can overcome. At the age of 9 years old, I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). It made me feel weird knowing that I was different, so I kept it to myself. I was even put on medication that made me feel high strung and jittery. Knowing I had this, made me think that people would reject me for what I had and not like me. As I got older and became more mature, I started not to care about what others thought of me, my condition, or the fact that I had to take medication to help me. After my parents had me transfer from a small private school to our community public school, because of my special needs I was given an opportunity to establish a personalized  504 plan for my academics. My plan allows me to have extended time on projects and tests, seating in the front of the class, and even one-on-one time with my teachers. Although I had my plan in place, it was still hard for me to focus in school, get my work done, and get decent grades.  This made me feel like a disappointment to everyone, but mostly to myself. I began to doubt myself in everything I did, including being an athlete. I constantly critiqued everything I did telling myself I needed to be perfect. This distracted me from playing well  on the court and doing well in the classroom.  As time passed, my faith changed my attitude towards myself and things eventually got better. Getting over this hurdle helped me to grow and be a better student, athlete, and friend. It increased my faith in God, myself, and the abilities I’ve been blessed with to do many different things. I now know if I apply myself and trust God, He will guide me and give me strength to do all things. He has taught me that everyone is unique in their own way, and that I was created exactly the way he wanted. I know that I’m not like anyone else, and the way I learn, think, and do things can be completely different than others. It’s my differences that set me apart. I’m a hands-on learner, a very caring person, and I put a wholehearted effort into everything I do, but most importantly I am a hard worker. Even though I sometimes slip up and fall a little behind, I push myself and never give up.