As a high school athlete, I played three sports year-round — volleyball, basketball and tennis. I always had a pair of sweaty sneakers in the backseat of my car and toted my letterman jacket from game to game with pride. That pride was integral to my identity, but I didn’t know it until I left my hometown to attend the University of Idaho — sans athletic scholarship.
Being from a small town and having a big-time academic dream of attending a four-year university, I never pursued college sports. It wasn’t until my junior and senior years of high school that I began to excel in athletics.