Most people think being a student-athlete limits you in many ways. Technically, it does; however, it gives you more opportunities, life skills and opens more doors than what it limits you from. 

Being a student athlete may be challenging, and there is no way out other than finding a way to overcome it. You work and work, and you finally come up with a solution. Once you have your first experience, your first struggle, you start to grow as a person. You begin to adopt the features that helped you to get to the best version of yourself when you were at your lowest. 

Now, imagine you are doing this over and over again for hours, days, weeks and, at the end, for four years. 

You learned many valuable lessons, and now you are off to your ‘life after college,’ and you are more ready than you thought you were going to be four years ago. 

This interview was done with senior women’s volleyball team members Kennedy Smith ‘23 and Chasidy Sharpe ‘23 and first-year Carson Eubanks ‘26. Here is how they answered some questions as a four year student-athlete, and as a first-year who is at the beginning of her journey.

Senior Interview

1. How has your experience evolved in four years?

Smith:

Team becomes family and everyone becomes your best friends. You start to manage situations more maturely as you go through the four years. What would have been so stressful the first year, you handle them with grace.

Also, when it comes to athletic skill and ability, you just have so many tools in your pocket by the time you reach senior year. Because of all the training that you have put in, it is easier to pick up on drills and you are more comfortable being a part of the team.

Sharpe:

It is definitely a big shock coming in. All of the moving process, getting used to college, being away from family, starting a new team and you are the youngest again.

As the time goes on, the team becomes your family. It is definitely a process that takes time, but by senior year you definitely have it as a part of your personality. Also, by senior year, with all the experience you have gained, your position becomes more of a leadership position and you become more comfortable.

2. How did being a part of a team affected you academically and socially?

Smith:

It benefited me. I think when you are a part of a team, a lot of people think that it limits you because of how much of your time is taken up, but because you learn how to multitask and manage your day, it teaches you time management.

It also introduces you to other people. You meet a lot of people, from different sports teams. It is not an experience where you only have to be friends with the team you are in. 

We have a really striving academic team. We motivate each other and we tend to have really good relationships with our professors. So, I personally had an amazing academic experience at Wofford.

Sharpe:

You are being held with an academic expectation and you are supported by your teammates and coaches all the time, so you do work hard in the classroom.

Playing a sport allowed me to thrive socially; it opened up a lot of doors and made me able to meet a lot of people. (Because of) the relationships we all have created with our professors, they would come to our games and support us, not only academically, but in this part of our lives, too.

3. What would you say is the best part of being a student-athlete?

Smith:

Growth. Being a student athlete pushes you harder than you are going to push yourself. You grow when things are uncomfortable, so being a student athlete puts you in situations where you have only one choice which is to overcome.

The growth I have gotten out of being a student athlete is what perfectly prepares me for my adult life and will lead me to success.

Sharpe:

Discipline and hard work. It gave me the ability to get things done and be the person who steps up in certain situations. It taught me leadership, by learning how to navigate many different personalities, which is definitely an important life skill you would want to have going into my life after college.

4. How would you describe the Wofford women’s volleyball team?

Smith:

It is the closest team that I have ever played on, whether that is a factor of being together for four years or the factor of the girls we bring in.

I definitely think our team is multifaceted, because we are goofy and funny and smart and motivated and driven and competitive. We see a little bit of everything in everyone. Which makes us unique.

Sharpe:

We are all very close, they see you in your highest and your lowest and you become family. No one knows you better than these people. You spend a lot of time with them. Everyone has their own unique personality.

First-Year Interview

1. How has being a part of an athletic team helped you adjust to college life?

Eubanks:

My experience overall has been going well. The team helped me a lot. It feels so much like a family-oriented group. This aspect of the team helped me grow and adjust to college life more easily.

In the beginning, it was kind of overwhelming figuring out how to work through it. But, being the youngest in the team, the older girls helped me with how to manage the workload. Being a freshman, you are new to everything, and the volleyball season being at the beginning of the school year was stressful.

Still, despite all the stress it brought me, my teammates had a huge positive impact on easing my process of getting adjusted to my new life of being a freshman and a student-athlete.

1. What are the positive aspects, academically, athletically and socially, of being a part of a team while being a student at Wofford?

Eubanks:

I think being a part of a team was a pathway to meet people, and all my teammates were so kind. All of the older girls helped me figure my way out when I first came here.

Academically, all of my professors were so understanding, and they make you feel that they are there for you academically and athletically, if you need anything. They check in on us and make sure that we are doing okay and keeping up with everything.

2. What has been the main thing you needed to get used to as a student-athlete?

Eubanks:

Figuring out how to manage the time and finding time to get school work done with the volleyball schedule. Mainly, (it’s been) creating a set routine for each day so that I can perform my best academically and athletically.

How have the first couple of months of being a college student-athlete been, and how would you describe the Wofford Volleyball team?

Eubanks:

I personally loved these last couple of months. At the beginning, it was stressful because (I am) a freshman, (I am) the new one. This is such a strong team, so I always try to put my best version out there all the time.

Now that we have gone through the first semester, having positivity in the team and knowing that you are not alone and there are people there to help you is comforting and helps you grow and become more comfortable at where you are. 

I would say, as an athlete who has played in other teams before her college career, the Wofford Volleyball team is so special, everyone is so welcoming and it does feel like family.

Mina Gencoguz, contributing writer