All throughout my life, athletics have been important to me. When I was growing up, I used to watch Division 1 athletes play on television whenever possible. I remember thinking that they were the best in the country and I only hoped that I would have a chance to be like them one day. Ten years later, that dream of playing with the “best” was a closer reality that I ever imagined. Because I happened to be 6’3” tall and left handed, I had a natural advantage over most other volleyball players in high school. This advantage, combined with countless hours of practices, games and tournaments allowed me to get recruited heavily by many schools that ranged in divisions from D1 to NAIA.
The recruitment process was very flattering, to say the least, but it also left me very overwhelmed and confused. Because there wasn’t one school that I had envisioned myself going to my whole life, I was open to every option that presented itself. This ever-present lack of a direction caused me to become very frustrated by the whole “choosing a college” situation. I began to research into many schools that had sent me letters in order to have a better idea as to what I did and didn’t want in a school. Because I knew that I wanted to play volleyball at a very competitive level in college, I started to weigh the pros and cons of every school and each division.
In talking with several D1 athletes, I realized that they had a huge commitment to their sport. Not only were they traveling most every weekend, but they had just as many practices in the off-season as they did in their regular season. Many of the athletes also had to stay on campus during the summers and other breaks in order to train with their teams. This information really turned me off to a bigger school because, although I wanted to be competitive, I wanted to have more than a volleyball experience. I wanted to have a college experience complete with time for friends and fun. The only real benefit that I could find in going to a D1 school that wasn’t also offered at a smaller school was the status and prestige of saying that you played a sport at a D1 college and were one of the “best.” Once I took my ego out of the equation, however, I realized that many of the faith-based schools that I was looking into offered great athletic teams that were capable of competing with, and even beating, many smaller D1 schools.
On top of allowing their athletes more of a well-rounded college experience and great competition, I found that NAIA faith-based schools have other benefits for an athlete as well. The typically-advertised advantages such as smaller class sizes and a feeling of belonging turned out to be true and very important to me because it allowed me to get caught up with my school work easier when I had to miss class for tournaments. Students at faith-based school also feel less pressure to be in the “party” scene, which is great because many sports teams (private or not) don’t allow their athletes to drink. There were a lot of opportunities for me to grow in my own personal faith through attending Bible studies or worship services with a few of my teammates. Also, student athletes can choose to play more than one sport because the time commitments may not be as intense on certain teams as they are in D1 programs.
When I added up all of these benefits plus countless others that weren’t sports-related, it became easy to see that I belonged at a smaller, faith-based school. In going to an NAIA school, I was able to help my volleyball team to become ranked 12th in the nation as well as build lasting friendships and memories that I would never have made at any other college. My decision to not only attend but to play volleyball at a faith-based school proved to be an excellent one that allowed me to get the “best” out of my college experience.