“I found a way to destress and for me it was volleyball”

Yasmeen Faquiryan: “I first started volleyball because my mom used to play when I was little and I always wanted to play as well. But then during my first year of middle school, I finally got the chance and it was a great experience. During volleyball, I eventually became closer to my other teammates. It made me get better at working with other people and being able to communicate easier, which is necessary during games. It’s important to be able to work well with others and it helps form relationships. You don’t need to make close friends, but you need to be able to build that trust which is important during these games. At first, I thought it’ll be awkward to make small conversations, but it’s essential to be able to bond well with others or know each other because once you’re in the game, you need to be able to communicate and especially trust the other teammates. With the lack of communication, it’s even harder to cooperate and even win a game. And as I made these small conversations, I got to know others and even make some great friends and now I’m used to initiating conversations and I like it a lot. 

I enjoy playing volleyball because it takes my mind off of school. At first, I wasn’t as good as I am now- I could barely serve the ball over the net and I wasn’t that good. However, with practice, I can now do stuff that I wasn’t able to do when I first started. Practice is definitely most important when trying to improve. For me, I enjoyed doing volleyball and once I practiced, it became more enjoyable. Finding out what you like to do and doing it to the best of your ability is most important because no one is going to get better if they don’t practice. And once you find something you love and enjoy, you need to stick to it and not give up.”