Um , but I think I was able to kind of take my time and not be influenced by kind of external factors so that I could really make the decision that I wanted and I loved , and I'm glad I did because with all the transferring nowadays , I was able to stay here and wanted to stay here for 5 years , so I'm very grateful for that . I think starting out in the recruiting process , no matter where you're at , I would say the best advice I have is never be afraid to ask too many questions because there's no such thing . Um , I think if you're able to kind of come up with some ideas , and maybe you don't have it concrete , but if you can come up with some ideas of things that are really important to you , whether it's a family aspect , whether it's location , whether it's a degree , there are so many other things , including volleyball , but also outside of volleyball or whatever sport that you play .
Yeah , so I think because of my age , I was in a really weird place with recruiting , so a lot of my challenges before becoming a top recruit and Before college , we're kind of , honestly in 7th and 8th grade . Um , so when I was in middle school , there were no rules against recruiting age , and at what age you can go on unofficial visits or get offers . So I was starting my college journey , I guess we could say , but my college visits in the 8th grade .
Yeah , so I did talk a little bit about why I chose Northwestern , again . When I was young and going through recruiting , um , even though I already had an offer from Northwestern for the next 2 years , there was a Northwestern volleyball coach at every single one of my club games for the next following 2 years , and To me that showed a ton of loyalty and a ton of patience , and I think that was something that really attracted me to this school , but also the coaching staff in particular . Um I loved where Northwestern was in terms of location for opportunities for internships and jobs , but also being a drive away from my my hometown .
And definitely something that I noticed a lot over time , not just with nutrition and recovery , but also the other pieces that play into that was sleep and stretching and using ice baths or other modes of recovery too that are outside of nutrition . Yeah , so I think because of my age , I was in a really weird place with recruiting , so a lot of my challenges before becoming a top recruit and Before college , we're kind of , honestly in 7th and 8th grade . Um , so when I was in middle school , there were no rules against recruiting age , and at what age you can go on unofficial visits or get offers .
And then , Again , going on a visit when I was 14 years old here for the first time , I was speaking with girls who were 1718 , 1920 years old , and I just felt an instant click , and I felt an instant belonging , and I think that was super important to me that even though I hadn't even committed yet , these girls were kind of bringing me in and telling me about what they wanted to do at Northwestern and the plans they had and the goals they had and the things that they wanted to accomplish . And I think that was incredibly inspiring for me to see that , but then also be able to meet the potential recruits who kind of all were all bought in on this same vision , and it was something that I really wanted to be a part of , and it sounded super exciting to me , so I couldn't turn it down , and I loved it . There are a few things that I think have made me a better player .
