“Volleyball is my escape.”

Arpitha Mamidi: Well I watched my sister play volleyball for like a year and a half in high school and that kind of got me playing as well. But I started to get really serious about November of 2018 and that’s just because of everything I was going through personally in 6th grade. I remember feeling really weak because I didn’t know how to deal with the things in my life, but volleyball became my escape. It made me feel really powerful and independent. When COVID first hit it was so hard because volleyball isn’t a sport where you can not touch the ball, everything and everyone touches the ball. But like I said, it was really hard in the beginning because practices shut down. But now I had to start all over and find a new way of just coping. That and I could physically feel my motivation faltering. Now it’s safe enough to play again as long as we don’t interact with people out of the team it’s like my own bubble. So I have my escape from reality again and it feels great. I now play for the Core Volleyball club and play for the 15 elite teams, and I play either opposite or outside hitter. But I’m honestly I’m just glad I’m back, I got my motivation back and I feel so strong and independent again.