Completed Event: Volleyball at Arizona State on March 20, 2026 ,
Volleyball
at Arizona State
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Darryl Webb
The VolleyBlog
4/8/2015 12:40:00 PM | Volleyball
Today's Blog is from defensive specialist Emily Vitel
By Emily Vitel
Being a high school student-athlete versus a collegiate student-athlete are two completely different things. You never really realize how drastic it is until you've experienced it. The most important thing to remember while you are in college, as a student-athlete, is that your studies are No. 1. Many times we fail to realize that we aren't all going to have our sport to fall back on when we graduate and go out into the real world to find a job. One of the great things about Grand Canyon is how helpful the professors are with student-athletes. They are willing to work extra to help us catch up on missed work while we are traveling.
What surprised me the most here at GCU is the great family-atmosphere among the athletes. I really enjoy it because there are many wonderful individuals who I can go to when I need help or I am just having a bad day. Being so far away from home, I'm from Illinois, it's really reassuring to have a huge support system behind you other than your family back home. One thing I wish I would have done more my freshman year was get involved in other outside activities and meet new people. There are a lot of great students on this campus and I wish I had taken the time to get to know more of them this year, but look forward to meeting more in the future.
By Emily Vitel
Being a high school student-athlete versus a collegiate student-athlete are two completely different things. You never really realize how drastic it is until you've experienced it. The most important thing to remember while you are in college, as a student-athlete, is that your studies are No. 1. Many times we fail to realize that we aren't all going to have our sport to fall back on when we graduate and go out into the real world to find a job. One of the great things about Grand Canyon is how helpful the professors are with student-athletes. They are willing to work extra to help us catch up on missed work while we are traveling.
What surprised me the most here at GCU is the great family-atmosphere among the athletes. I really enjoy it because there are many wonderful individuals who I can go to when I need help or I am just having a bad day. Being so far away from home, I'm from Illinois, it's really reassuring to have a huge support system behind you other than your family back home. One thing I wish I would have done more my freshman year was get involved in other outside activities and meet new people. There are a lot of great students on this campus and I wish I had taken the time to get to know more of them this year, but look forward to meeting more in the future.
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