From a young age, it was evident the impact sports would have on my life, as early on it consumed me.
There was rarely a night in my house when ESPN wasn’t on the TV. It lingered in the background while my family gathered around our dining room table for dinner, or served as a distraction for my brother and me while we sat doing our homework at the kitchen counter.
As I got older, the nights I had sat beside my dad on the couch and watched SportsCenter’s Top 10 were replaced by hour-long car rides to sports practices of my own. As a child, sports was intruding the walls of my home, but as a teenager it had created the walls of my new home – as an athlete.
My teenage years were defined by the teams I was a part of, the coaches who led me, and the cities and gyms I played in across the country.
But, little did I know I’d find myself sitting back on that same couch in March of 2020 as I watched the NBA announce the suspension of their season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the world soon followed, the place where I had come to find the strongest sense of connection momentarily ceased to exist.
Yet sports and its unbreakable commitment to connection prevailed.
I then found myself huddled in front of the TV with my family to watch some of the world’s most powerful sports journalists come together to tell the story of one of the greatest, in Michael Jordan’s The Last Dance. I watched as the NBA made a decision amidst the pandemic to shift play to “the bubble.” And in 2022, I watched as Malika Andrews became the first woman to host the NBA Draft. A time that once felt defined by uncertainty was now marked by these powerful moments of resilience.
All of these moments confirmed for me, yet again, that this was the world I belonged in – and I knew that my future in the world of sports would continue long after my own career as an athlete.
Later, I would go on to fulfill my dreams of playing Division I volleyball at the University of Portland. This was until I was sidelined from my sport my sophomore year of college, where an injury that would be too severe to come back from ultimately led me to my first job as a journalist – a sports reporter for my university's newspaper, the Beacon. My first step into the field, and it was one I took without ever looking back.
Upon reflection, I’ve come to realize that I’ve had the privilege of spending most of my life as a catalyst connecting people to sports. Still I am humbled by the moments I feel goosebumps on my arms or tears in my eyes, overwhelmed by the awe sports can inspire. Being a part of these moments is a privilege I find joy in every single day, and one I will never take for granted.