My name is Rylie Frandrup, I have lived in Minnesota my whole life. I first started indoor volleyball at the ripe age of eight, I then found my love for beach volleyball. It began right as I stepped foot into the sand. I played as much as I could that first summer, it was something that I truly had a blast doing. However as the summer came to an end, indoor was the only thing on my mind, because beach wasn't really something I could participate in during the cold winter months of Minnesota. I still played beach during the summers but I wanted more. Luckily my beach coach began a winter program, which started about 2 years ago. I stopped playing indoor club and began beach full time, at this point I knew college beach volleyball was what I was meant to do. I chose to continue beach furthering my career into college because it gives me so much joy and allows me to be myself. My team and I train hard and play the beach rules on an indoor court and often play on turf trying our best to prepare for our college careers. Which is what you can imagine, painful. However it is all we have, closest indoor beach facility is 2 hours away in Wisconsin, so it is hard to make time for a trip like that. The team and I make do with our resources provided and continue to work as hard as we can , training and practicing three days a week. About halfway through the winter last year I had the opportunity to go on an official visit to Wingate University in North Carolina. I received an offer and soon after that I committed. I chose to commit there not only because of beach, but I because of their physical therapy program. Physical therapy is something I've always dreamed of doing, and knowing I can play beach while learning to become a physical therapist is truly incredible. I felt so relieved after the long process of recruiting, however, I got an understanding of how much scholarship money I would be getting and I knew it would be tough for me and my family to afford without taking out loans. I began to get tutoring for my ACT so I could get a higher score, which would help with increasing the money that I would be receiving. However, for me the ACT, even after tutoring, is not something I'm strong at. So that extra money from a high ACT score isn't something I necessarily can count on. Which is why I have been buckling down on scholarship applications. Trying my best to get as many as I can done, in hopes I can receive some college money to pursue my dreams. I have asked God many times, wondering what I should do. He's calling me to keep going and push through the challenges. I have worked so hard to get here, going through hours of playing on turf, and many travel days just to get a glimpse of sand. There is no chance I am giving up on my dream, I am going to work hard everyday until I can receive more financial help to attend college, and become the best beach volleyball player I can be. If I were to win this scholarship, it truly would allow me to live out my dreams. Although I am not from Hawaii, I still have a passion for beach volleyball and I have done all that I can with the resources I have here in MN.