My mother defies odds. She is the most intelligent and strong person I know. She is a large animal veterinarian that runs her own practice, trades/sells/breeds horses as her own business, and is humbly the most intelligent PERSON in most rooms she walks into. She gets her hands dirty with various substances, is physically strong (she only hires women to help her take care of the ranch, not by choice, but because they fit the job requirements better than other applicants.), she is 55 years old and still will put herself in danger around 1500 pound animals. My mother is the pillar that holds me up, she doesn't spare my feelings when she advises me, yet she still makes me feel confident, intelligent, and capable. Throughout my life she has always had input on my "next step" and guides me the best she can but makes sure that I do it myself. She gives me her unwaivering support, but says "If you want to accomplish it, you will." Im changing my life right now, I am transferring to University of Mary-Hardin Baylor from Missouri State University. Before I made my choice I told her it was something I was considering doing, she told me she supported me and that she thought it was a good idea. Once I decided I was going to transfer I got to work. I sent my transcripts, applied, got accepted, but still didn't have the funds to pay for tuition. Because of my lack of finances, I started rapidly applying to scholarships. A week after I received the acceptance email, she sent me a picture of the acceptance letter from UMHB. I called her to talk about it, and she expressed how proud she was of me. However, she was not proud of the fact that I got accepted. She was proud of the fact that I did it and made my choice on my own. I do not know if she knows the impact she has had on me. I am frequently told I have a unique or complex personality and thought process (I take this as a compliment), but I am the product of my influencers, and she is the biggest one. Obtaining funds for my future is the biggest thing I can do to ensure that I get the education I need. As a full time student-athlete it is tricky to not get overwhelmed, so adding a job to that isn't the best idea. I will have a job when school and beach volleyball are over, and my mother is willing to let me in on part of her business to help me reach future goals.

I fell in love with indoor volleyball and decided that I was going to play in college as a freshman in high school. At this time, I started doing all of the things to be recruited including spending thousands of dollars paying and travelling to play club volleyball. Everything changed my sophomore year when covid swept through the nation cancelling the season. It was at this point that I tried to find a beach volleyball club near me that could satisfy my need to play. I found one located 45 minutes away but was very nervous and skeptical. They had a tournament, and I signed up with my sister, just to give it a go and see what could happen. These people were instantly loving, caring, and accepting of the two stranger that walked onto their courts. After talking to the owners, I began taking privates, and it was evident that beach came much more naturally than indoor. I was always told my hands were too slow for indoor, but I never actually understood what that meant until I was playing beach volleyball. I began playing more and more, traveling all over Texas playing and meeting people. I played coed, Women's, juniors, doubles, fours, or grass. I just was addicted to the sport. In fall of 2021 I was recruited to play beach at Missouri State University, but that was when my relationship with the sport began to fall apart. The summer of my freshman year I hated it, I felt like no matter what I did, I wasn't getting better, and I wasn't having fun. My sophomore year I was diagnosed with depression, and was given pills that "would solve my problem". The summer after my sophomore year I stopped taking the pills and I focused on happiness and realized that my happiness came from playing beach volleyball back home, and I was once again in love with the sport. I met many amazing people that wanted my success and happiness, this support rebuilt my confidence and helped me become motivated again. I am deciding to transfer to UMHB, which is back home, close to my friends, family, and the club that built my foundation with beach volleyball. My fiancé and I want to have our own beach club where we host events and coach juniors to adults and create the same environment that was created for us when we first started playing the sport. We will keep this club/location until it has really succeeded and can pay for itself. At that point we will then work on different careers and keep the beach volleyball club as a hobby and a way to feel positive energy from doing something we love. He wants to be an NFL recruiter, and I want to be a Paramedic.