Above All Odds
Growing up in Hawaii and as a Native Hawaiian, the odds were already against her. Only 16% of Native Hawaiians have a Bachelor’s Degree, and barely 8% have a Graduate’s Degree. (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CD8QFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.census.gov%2Fprod%2F2012pubs%2Facsbr10-19.pdf&ei=vDE2VLK_C6uN8QHKqYDIAw&usg=AFQjCNE2kZba4sqLxVEnUaTOqr0kwI0AnQ) Thus, the chances of Gabby pursuing and obtaining any kind of higher education was not very likely. But yet, from the age of eight her only dream was to play collegiate volleyball. She used volleyball as her vehicle to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree. But after her volleyball career was over, she realized that her only focus in life was to play volleyball, …show more content…
In high school she graduated with a 3.8 GPA, and was a member of her school’s National Honor Society. The reason why she had such high grades though, was because her parents threatened to take volleyball away from her if she didn’t uphold a 3.5 GPA. While most girls were going to proms, hanging out with their friends, and starting to have boyfriends, Gabby’s only focus was volleyball. Even though her parents and coaches pushed her towards going to college so that she could get a degree, she just saw college as a way to continue playing volleyball.
Gabby ended up receiving a full athletic scholarship to The State University of New York, University at Albany. There she excelled at volleyball, winning two Division 1 Conference Championships, and winning many accolades such as two year team captain, team MVP her senior year, and First Team All-Conference Awards. This accolades though, wouldn’t help her in the real world. From the time she started college, to the time she graduated, she changed her major five different times. This was mainly because she didn’t really have an interest in her studies. In her mind she was there to play volleyball, and nothing else. So she did what she needed to do to stay academically
Growing up in Hawaii and as a Native Hawaiian, the odds were already against her. Only 16% of Native Hawaiians have a Bachelor’s Degree, and barely 8% have a Graduate’s Degree. (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CD8QFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.census.gov%2Fprod%2F2012pubs%2Facsbr10-19.pdf&ei=vDE2VLK_C6uN8QHKqYDIAw&usg=AFQjCNE2kZba4sqLxVEnUaTOqr0kwI0AnQ) Thus, the chances of Gabby pursuing and obtaining any kind of higher education was not very likely. But yet, from the age of eight her only dream was to play collegiate volleyball. She used volleyball as her vehicle to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree. But after her volleyball career was over, she realized that her only focus in life was to play volleyball, …show more content…
In high school she graduated with a 3.8 GPA, and was a member of her school’s National Honor Society. The reason why she had such high grades though, was because her parents threatened to take volleyball away from her if she didn’t uphold a 3.5 GPA. While most girls were going to proms, hanging out with their friends, and starting to have boyfriends, Gabby’s only focus was volleyball. Even though her parents and coaches pushed her towards going to college so that she could get a degree, she just saw college as a way to continue playing volleyball.
Gabby ended up receiving a full athletic scholarship to The State University of New York, University at Albany. There she excelled at volleyball, winning two Division 1 Conference Championships, and winning many accolades such as two year team captain, team MVP her senior year, and First Team All-Conference Awards. This accolades though, wouldn’t help her in the real world. From the time she started college, to the time she graduated, she changed her major five different times. This was mainly because she didn’t really have an interest in her studies. In her mind she was there to play volleyball, and nothing else. So she did what she needed to do to stay academically