Perspective from the Newbies!

Hi, this is Abby Moore and Ally Fea, two Freshmen volleyball players at Calvin. We are both from out of state (Abby from Indiana and Ally from Pennsylvania) and have been slowly adjusting to life in Michigan. This first week with the team has been filled with new experiences, excitement, nerves, vulnerability, and fear. Some of our fears coming in were confirmed, but we will be ok!

            It has been hard for both of us to adapt to our new home at Calvin. We miss our families, our pets, our friends, and definitely our beds! Getting into the routine of practice has been difficult, but encouraging teammates have eased the transition. It has been interesting living on our own and we have already been exposed to so many different lifestyles. For example, different vernaculars: cabin vs. cottage, sneakers vs. tennis shoes, etc.

We have enjoyed bonding with our new teammates, especially fellow freshmen. We feel so blessed to have staff at Calvin that care for the team. We appreciate the little things like cleaning the locker room and doing our practice laundry. We also have incredible coaches who have already taught us so much this week.

We are writing this from the team retreat, which has been super eye-opening and emotional! We have talked with our teammates about our struggles and fears, not only on the court but also in life. We’ve also had a lot of fun here! For example, last night we had a contest between each of the grades for making a three-minute reenactment of a movie. The highlight was watching Coach Warners get in the water and be the shark from Jaws.

It has been comforting to spend time with girls who share our faith. The homemade meals have been great also. We’ve grown closer to the team these last few days and we can’t wait for the season to start!