Oyindamola (Dee Dee) Shote '24 Recruiting Profile

Playing volleyball at a college level on a scholarship has been a dream of mine since the 4th grade, it is something that I have had to push down and see as unrealistic. By living in the United Kingdom, I have had to work harder and dedicate more time to playing volleyball, due to it not being a popular sport here. Playing volleyball In university is very important to me, and being considered to play in America would make my hard work come true. I have and will continue to prove that I am worthy enough and hard-working enough to play in the United States. My Goals are to learn from coaches become a better, stronger player every day, and have a team that will help each other on and off the court, to become a stronger and better athletes not only physically but mentally too. I also dream of becoming a diplomatic ambassador once my volleyball career has ended. 

I believe that I would be a good fit for University level volleyball because I work hard to make sure that the team and I are motivated on and off the court physically, but I also know how important it is to work together, by pushing myself to work harder I have become more motivated to do better and I try to help my teammates to the same. I work hard to make sure that I am the most motivated person on and off the court. pushing myself to do other physical activities like running and the gym. Although I get in my head when I make a mistake on the court, I like to keep a calm and positive attitude, so that I can make sure I'm playing to the best ability and also to make sure there is a positive environment on the court. 

I make sure to try to my best ability when it comes to my work ethic, I dedicate time to school and other outside academic activities, like essay competitions and Model United Nations. with a current GPA of 2.8/4.0, I knew that after starting the International Baccalaureate when my grades started to drop despite my work ethic not changing there was an underlying issue. I was able to get academic testing done and was told that I was on the lower side of the autism spectrum. explaining my struggle in school. Although having this for years, I have never struggled immensely in school and now I refuse to let it still take over my academics I still Have my strong work ethic and have found more ways to study that can help me see the results that fit in with the amount of work that I am currently putting in. I want to study politics in the future to later become a diplomatic ambassador, to help solve world issues and be a voice for countries that don't always have one, and I will continue to work hard to get the grades that I need to make this dream come true.