Editor's Note: This is the most recent piece in a series of stories shared by Gorillas to Gorillas as we all embark upon this new "season" in our lives. These certainly are unprecedented times, for young and old alike. Our hope is for Gorilla student-athletes, past and present, coaches and members of Gorilla Nation to read these pieces, awaken their Gorilla memories and then compose their own story to share with us. There is strength in numbers.
When I started thinking about what I wanted to write about, I realized that my entry was going to be quite a bit different than those athletes that belong to a Spring sport.
Volleyball takes place in the Fall which means COVID-19 did not put our team in a place to miss any tournaments or games. In this case, I feel extremely lucky to have not had to go through the tragedy of getting one less year of playing the sport I love, and I feel horribly for the athletes that weren't able to squeeze their seasons in before the pandemic took over.
Although we did not get our season interrupted, something else was taken from us. Spring is a very important time for our team when it comes to improvement and recovery. It allows us the time to dig deeper into certain plays, work individually with coaches and wake up before 5 a.m. for weights and conditioning! Now that this isn't a part of my weekly routine, I look back and wish I had appreciated those times a little bit more.
After moving home semi permanently, I came across something that hit me harder than I expected it would. Every month, I update my digital calendar with all of my practices, weights, team meetings, etc., and had done this at the beginning of March (before the corona virus had affected our country so dramatically). Fast forward to a few days into this at-home quarantine, about a week of being away from my team I opened my computer to add something to my calendar and realized I would have had weights earlier that morning and would now be at practice if none of this was taking place. Seeing all of these events that I so casually added, planning for what my month would look like (or what I thought it would look like!) made me a little glum.
At the beginning of March when I sat down to update my calendar with all of these events, I would have never believed you if you told me we were only going to be able to get in one week of Spring team practices before everybody needed to head their separate ways.
If COVID-19 and the quarantine has taught me anything, it is not to things for granted. Sitting at home, distanced from my house in Pittsburg, my friends, and my teammates has made me reflect on all of the simple things throughout my daily routine that I underappreciated and I am now missing more than ever. Things such as waking up before the sun and having the weight room to ourselves for our morning lift, enjoying the competitiveness of scrimmaging against each other at practice, and even sitting in our living room with my roommates and our friends at the end of the day watching movies. Now that none of these things are possible, I find myself craving them. I am counting down the days until we can get back onto the court together.
Having no option but to adjust to this new lifestyle, the volleyball team is keeping in touch as best as we can. As far as working out and keeping in shape, we are continuing our accountability through sharing pictures and videos of our various activities whether it be walks with our families, runs with our pups (we love these photos), or greatly appreciated workouts from our weights coach. What I have noticed is that we can share as many photos as we want but nothing beats being able to enjoy each other's company and being on the court together every day. For many of us, volleyball was an escape from all of the other pressures and stressors from the other parts of our lives. Without this, the days can get very monotonous. Being without each other is getting lonely and results in lots of FaceTime and Zoom calls!
I pray continuously that COVID-19 does not affect my senior 2020 season and I am doing my best to think positive thoughts about the future. What has helped me the most during this time is sticking to a routine that I enjoy and making it a point to keep in contact with friends and teammates from back in Pittsburg. I hope you all can conquer the fearful thoughts of this time in our world and search for the opportunities that it brings. I personally have discovered many things that I would never have reflected on or done if it weren't for these circumstances, and I encourage you to do the same (such as dying your hair purple like I did!).
I look forward to returning to my normal routine but with the new perspective of what it is like to not have it. I will definitely appreciate every simple moment so much more!
Emily Regier
Emily Regier is entering her senior season as a member of the Pittsburg State University volleyball program next fall. The Newton, Kan., native is a two-time All-MIAA performer as well as an MIAA Scholar Athlete. Emily is a psychology major.
Please share your own personal stories/thoughts via email to dwilkes@pittstate.edu. We want to share them! (PSU Athletics reserves the right to edit content for space and appropriateness. We cannot promise to publish every submission, but we will do our best.) Thanks Gorilla Nation!
Through the Eyes of a Gorilla Archives
Vol. I - Dan Wilkes, Associate AD/Communications (Apr. 3)
Vol. II - Levi Wyrick, Football/Track & Field Athlete (Apr. 7)
Vol. III - Amanda Davied, Women's Basketball Coach (Apr. 10)
Vol. IV - Chris Hanna, PSU Alum/Football Athlete (Apr. 13)
Vol. V - Jeff Moreland, PSU Alum/Football Athlete (Apr. 15)
Vol. VI - Emily Hanenberg, Volleyball Athlete (Apr. 17)
Vol. VII - Ashley Balazs, Softball Coach (Apr. 20)
Vol. VIII - Peter Euler, PSU Alum/CC T&F Athlete (Apr. 22)
Vol. IX - Caitlin Demarest, PSU Alum/WBB Athlete (Apr. 24)
Vol. X - Tyson Cushman, Baseball Athlete (Apr. 27)
Vol. XI - Oscar Gonzalez, PSU Alum/Men's Basketball Athlete (Apr. 29)
Vol. XII - Russ Jewett, Cross Country/Track & Field Coach (May 1)
Vol. XIII - Ronald Moore, PSU Alum/Football Athlete (May 4)
