The end of W14

Well, the end of term is upon us and it feels like winter has gone by too fast. After Winter Carnival ended, we headed straight into midterms which inevitably come hand in hand with loads of reading, late nights, and Reece’s peanut butter cups. On the contrary, the last couple of weeks have been full of fun outings and new discoveries.

I happen to be, yet another, west coast kid from Los Angeles, so the insane downpour of snow was both beautiful and exhilarating. Since I strongly identify as a nature girl, getting outside is critical for my mental health. Sometimes, I find myself just looking up in awe of the sparkling little snowflakes—absolutely mesmerizing. After a few days of freezing cold snowfall, the sun started to peep through the clouds which was truly lifted everyone’s spirits during midterm season. The constantly changing weather patterns confuse little west coast kids such as myself. I frequently learn new things about the East Coast climate from natives or upperclassmen. For example, I was walking home from a class when I nearly slipped and fell on what I though was a puddle. Later, I learned that this “puddle” was a frozen puddle. (One of my teammates informed me is called “black ice.”) Thank goodness for my trusty bean boots. On a positive note, apparently melting snow means prime snowball weather. One night, Julia and I had a blast on the way home from dinner rolling tiny snowballs into massive snowmen bases and proceeded to throw them at one another. The looks we got from some upperclassmen... Amazingly enough, some of the team was

able to get out on a Saturday and head to the slopes. Some snowboarded, some skied, and everyone had a great time in the snow. Another night, the team went to Freshman Formal together! We pulled a classic group of teenage girls and all got ready together curling our hair and doing each other’s makeup. Once we were all done up, we went out to a classy dinner at Murphy’s and headed over to the Hanover Inn where we danced the night away. Overall, we took advantage of a wonderfully planned event and had fun meeting some of our other classmates while having a great time. 

Volleyball wise, we continue to push ourselves in the gym technically, physically, mentally, and tactically. As a team, we have made strides in conditioning, lifting, and our volleyball technique. There are only 10 of us from the team on campus, but we have created such a competitive yet fun environment in the gym and weight room that the team feels bigger than ever. From step-dancing in the weight room to crushing sprints at 7:30 a.m., we have grown as a cohesive group as well as stronger athletes in all accounts. 

Over the last two weeks, we have started meeting with the Assistant Athletics Director for Leadership, Steven Spaulding, to explore goal setting in depth and set some of our own goals. We discussed the importance of setting goals and dreaming. Steven had us each do some “homework” regarding our own personal goals for volleyball as well as dreams as an individual human. To help voice our goals, Steven had us all stand in front of one another while we gave a quick explanation of our goals in the near and distant future. As we went down the line, we heard of teammates plans to become the CEO of their own company and empower other women to do the same. Others dreamed of winning the Ivy League or traveling the world. The experience was eye-opening and I learned more about my teammates than I thought I would at a goal setting meeting. I can’t wait to see what the last two weeks of classes hold for the team and me. I have enjoyed my first real winter so far and am looking forward to having my whole team back playing in the gym together for spring term!

 Molly Kornfeind ’17