What Did Going To A JUCO First Do For Me?

When I ultimately chose to go to Rend Lake College, it immediately burned a fire inside of me. Before making this decision I went on a couple of visits to some other junior colleges, some were near and some were far, but I made sure to see the differences between schools. At this point I didn’t take any official visits to any D1 schools, I already knew that I wouldn’t be attending them straight away, but those visits were something to be desired! I had been pretty highly recruited during high school, but 1.) I wasn’t recruited by any of the main schools that were at the top of my list, and 2.) my grades could have been better. 

I went through a completely different mind shift heading into college. And not everyone goes through that, but it happened for me and it actually made things much better for me in the end. Made me work harder, work smarter, allowed me to think more for myself. I went into my college experience looking at myself as more of an adult that needed to buckle down and do anything and everything necessary to accomplish my goals. If I was truly going to succeed, this shift needed to happen, and when that lightbulb went off on Day 1 there was no turning back.

The first semester at Rend Lake College I did not have a vehicle and that was a plus! It made me move differently than I think I would have in the beginning. Maybe I would have tried to go home every weekend (I was only an hr away), or maybe I would have had the means to do a bunch of other things instead of concentrating on what I needed to do. I did have a bike though, but that wasn’t the same, and it got stolen anyways. Where I stayed was off campus, about 3 miles away and I had to cross over a highway to get to the school. So I rather hitch a ride instead of riding the bike anyways. I stayed in an apartment with 3 other people, instead of a dorm and this was my introduction to bills, roommates, and a whole lot of compromise. 

Our apartment my freshman year was a duplex. Next door had 4 of my teammates, while inside my apartment there were 3 team members (including myself) and a volleyball player who was considering being a walk-on. She didn’t end up playing with us, for several different reasons, and that created a weird dynamic in our household. One that challenged me and helped me grow all the same. We also had the men’s team as our neighbors as well. Welcome to college life!

Within that first week of being on campus and moving in to my apartment, I learned plenty about how things could go. The first thing was how unpredictable, college basketball, or sports and coaching at the collegiate level could be. I was recruited by one coach, just months earlier, and then when I arrived, that same week a new coach had been hired. The coach that had recruited me had stepped down and was stepping away from coaching. So immediately I was left with a bit of confusion and a choice. 

Did I want to enter into unfamiliar territory with such a big change as this? Or did I want to make the most of it because regardless it was all “new” anyways? I chose to roll with the punches and continue to forge ahead.

And from that moment I decided that I was an adult. I make my own choices (for the most part), things may not always go as planned but I can make the most out of the situation and bust my butt for a better tomorrow as long as I kept my end goal in mind! And that became the motto all the way around. 

When classes began, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to get my degree in just yet, and as a freshman that was fine. I spent a lot of time with my counselor, asking questions and just making sure I would be put in the best situation to succeed. Being at a JUCO, having the access I had to my counselor was such a positive. I didn’t necessarily have to make an appointment, she had her office hours and you could just kind of drop by in passing if you wanted to. I talked to her often and weighed my options about a few things. Starting out I decided to take classes towards a degree in Education. Once my schedule was set and classes were in full swing, there was a slight adjustment that I needed to make. 

Most people don’t know this about me but I have quite a bit of anxiety. And when it came to starting my freshmen year I was dealing with a lot. 

-      Being in a new area

-      Starting a new school

-      Strangers

-      Living in a new “home”

-      Living with strangers

-      Feeling alone

But because these are things I needed to overcome in order to reach my ultimate goal, I found some things here and there to rely on to help me cope with that anxiety. As a military brat who has had to move from place to place and adapt to similar situations, this wasn’t foreign territory, but it was different because I didn’t have my family in the same capacity.

But anyways, now I’m in classes with about 15-20 other students, and all of our ages and backgrounds are different. There are so many different perspectives going on. Not only are you learning the subject of that class and the lessons, but you are learning about the other types of people around you and adapting to that whole situation as well. Taking note of some of these things made me take my classes even more seriously. To be in Psychology classes next to people who are going through the police academy or are Criminal Justice majors and will be our next wave of detectives, that made me pay attention to the class and how they go about things. To be in Health and Anatomy courses, with nurses and doctors, I wanted to make sure I knew as much as I could in those classes as well. Especially when it came down to doing group projects, I didn’t want to be the one to let the group down.

Being in this environment at a JUCO allowed me to focus a bit more and engage in ways that a bigger setting and classroom doesn’t really allow. It allowed me to gain that sense of confidence in the classroom setting, where I would ask questions and stand up in class a lot easier. For me, it helped and it was easier to ask in a room of just 15, in comparison to a room of 50+. 

When I was in high school, I stopped asking questions. Not because my classroom was huge, that wasn’t the case. But I had 1 teacher make me feel so small for asking a question about something I didn’t understand, and I pretty much never asked questions the same way I once did again. It ended up hurting me and my grades in high school overall, but that’s also the reason why I looked at all of this as a new lease on things. Another opportunity to prove to people but mainly to myself of what I’m really capable of.

Now that I had a grip on things in the classroom and had set myself up to succeed there. It made it that much easier to juggle between school work and playing basketball. I had really gotten myself into a great routine with the help of my family, coaches, teammates, and all the resources provided at the school. 

There weren’t many distractions on campus and in the area, unless you went out seeking things honestly. I spent all of my time either in the gym or working on my school work. That was the greatest part about going to a JUCO, I could focus on all the things I needed, in order to get in and work my butt off, and then get out and move on to the next level!

Any extra time I had I devoted it to either getting ahead in the classroom or on the court. On average, I would be on campus from 8am-8pm. I would catch a ride to campus with one of my teammates who had class at 8am, even though I would have it at 10am. I would log in study hall hours and If all of my homework was done I would look ahead and do the next 2 assignments. On top of that I would also make a bunch of quizzes and tests for myself to take, that way when the actual tests came around I would be more than prepared! And any time the gym was free before I had practice I would get up some extra shots. I had a goal of trying to get in 200 makes before practice would start. Sometimes I would have a teammate come through and we would work on a few things together, but I didn’t mind being alone in the gym. It was the one place I found time alone outside of being in the library at times.

When it came to playing at Rend Lake College, I really couldn’t imagine myself at a different spot starting out. Being there allowed me to flourish in ways I didn’t even realize until after the fact. I spent more time in the gym working on my individual game, I got to work out with some of the guys outside of practice, I was around a great group of people that pushed me, and I exceeded my own goals and expectations. 

We weren’t the best team in the conference but we made some noise and gained respect! Every game was an opportunity to get better and be tested by some great talent. Playing there and in that conference put me on some other D1 coaches’ radars. All I wanted was a different opportunity, and another way of broadening my possibilities to be able to reach my goals, and this was just the beginning! The following year I had a new coach, and his goals and ambition was right along with mine so we turned everything up the next season. I stayed true to my plan, I was pushed even harder by Coach Box, and doors continued to open up.

Going to Rend Lake College and playing at the JUCO level set me up to succeed. Allowed me to really just dial in and focus on all of my goals and I exceeded every expectation. I was able to accomplish things that I didn’t even set out to, but because I was so focused on being at my best and going to the next level, I was rewarded tremendously for my efforts.

I excelled in the classroom and earned an Associates in Applied Science and English with a 3.6 gpa while making the Dean’s List every semester. Walking away with the satisfaction of knowing that I would not be a part of that stigma and stereotype that circulates about student-athletes who transfer from JUCOs to Division 1 just added to my new coat of armor heading into the next level. I was prepared, and I would keep my strategy and my approach to my class work until I was done with school altogether. 

I was able to work on my game a bit more as an individual and step things up since I was going up against other Division 1 talented players and future draft picks. Being at the JUCO level literally makes you earn everything you get. There’s a reason why people say you “got it out the mud” whenever you make it from a JUCO. That type of grind on and off the court isn’t for everyone. Plenty of people don’t make it out. But if you can handle yourself accordingly, if you can follow the plan, you become a fighter and you learn how to overcome the odds from here on out. I became hungrier than I had ever been, breaking a few records and becoming a Hall of Famer in the process. Wouldn’t trade the experience for the world. Once my time was up at Rend Lake College I was off to the University of Illinois… challenge accepted!

My top 5 biggest lessons that I learned from playing at the JUCO level would have to be….

1.)Stick to the plan

2.) If you do the work the results will come

3.)Humble beginnings make you appreciate everything that comes afterwards

4.)Everyone’s path is different, don’t compare your blessings

5.)It’s perfectly fine to exceed your own expectations

“What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.” - Oscar Wilde