Overcoming Challenges as a Student-Athlete by Kyley Chang
I’ve been playing both varsity and club level for about 6 years now. Sports have been a part of my life since the beginning, with swim competitions, basketball tournaments, and now traveling the nation with my amazing volleyball team.
Because I’ve been playing sports since I was little, I learned that having a schedule really helps to balance athletics, school, and everything in between. It does get tedious at times and you will have to decide between events, but everything is worth it as long as you put your all into what you do.
Sports have provided opportunities to communicate, problem solve, and to lead. Especially in team sports, it's important to go the extra mile and do anything to help the team succeed. You can't get stuck in your head or else the whole team might get affected. Instead, you need to keep moving forward and work together with your teammates.
An example of this was during my senior year. Back in 2020, my school volleyball coach stepped down due to the pandemic. We would've had no season if it were not for an act of kindness from one of the English teachers who stepped in his place. Despite the teacher’s goodwill, he didn’t have much knowledge on the sport, even less on coaching it. Our first few summer practices resulted in injuries and disagreements; I came home every evening disappointed. I wanted my teammates to enjoy the sport I loved, but I knew that we lacked structure and direction to push the team further.
So, I reached out to the coach and asked for permission to direct practices and explain the game’s technicalities. He gave me the position of student-coach and team captain. From there, I structured the practices around the training I received from playing club volleyball: focusing on fundamental skills and communication between teammates. I spent hours developing drills to encourage the team to be more efficient and communicable.
Our team grew from shanking balls to ranking second in the league! It had been at least a decade since my school competed for the California Interscholastic Federation and I couldn’t be more proud of our team’s hard work and perseverance to get there!
While I could handle balancing school and sports, college was a whole other ball game. During this past year, the 4S Education Foundation has been my own lifesaving "coach.” My 4S Mentor helped me sort through colleges, brainstorm ideas for essays, and provide emotional support during deadlines. Without 4S, I would've had a much harder time thinking about higher education.
Learn more about the 4S Education Foundation and how it could help you reach your dreams. Our free one-on-one mentorship program provides students guidance from college applications to beyond. Apply today!
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