People of 小优短视频: Varsity volleyball serves up joy for student athlete
April 6, 2023
What鈥檚 your story?
The 小优短视频 community is full of unique, inspiring perspectives 鈥攁nd we鈥檙e sharing them as part of an ongoing series.
People of 小优短视频: Meet Chukwuma Okeke
Growing up in Nigeria, you go to school, home and then church. Or, you go to school, home and then go play sports.
Eventually I always did the sports part, but the sport wasn鈥檛 volleyball at first, it was soccer.
So that鈥檚 what I did there all the time until I got injured.
Volleyball is 鈥榓 thing of joy for me鈥
While trying to recuperate from the injury, I didn鈥檛 want to just do nothing. One day, I saw some people playing volleyball and I thought, 鈥淥K, my injury doesn鈥檛 stop me from playing this right now.鈥
I started playing and quickly realized I had a good jump for the sport. Luckily, someone offered to teach me the drills and then I did my first tournament for my school, and ever since then I loved the game. It鈥檚 a thing of joy for me.
I had so much fun playing these last two seasons with .
Plus, it鈥檚 indoors all the time, which is great. Growing up, I didn鈥檛 play indoors because you鈥檙e outside playing in the sun or the rain sometimes. Indoors, I could play all day.
I wasn鈥檛 always a great player. I had to put in my effort to improve, and in doing that I fell in love with the sport even more.
Now, I play at least three times a week. When you have something you鈥檙e good at, you tend to do it more often, especially when your team relies on you. I love that feeling of being a part of something.
Chukwuma learns about contributing to a team
Back home, I was a young player and everyone else was older, but here at 小优短视频, the college team are all young kids and I鈥檓 the oldest.
I鈥檓 a good role model for them. I hope I have done enough to show them some things.
Recently, I won four awards: , , .
I鈥檓 proud. It makes me realize how much I can contribute to a team, and it makes me just want to get better.
If you鈥檙e a student, try to join a sport. Maybe playing volleyball with your friends or trying beach volleyball in the summer, you鈥檙e going to have a better quality of life, and it gives you a chance to make a lot of friends.
How trying your best can lead to greatness
Whatever you find yourself doing, do your best because you don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going to pay off in the future. If I didn鈥檛 play volleyball, I might not have met someone who helped me to go to Dubai and then Canada. If I didn鈥檛 play volleyball, I wouldn鈥檛 be on the 小优短视频 varsity team. If I wasn鈥檛 on the team, I wouldn鈥檛 get these awards.
Plus, it鈥檚 a whole different vibe here in Canada because everyone loves the game but they also look out for each other.
鈥樞∮哦淌悠 is a nice family to be around鈥
No one says bad things to other players or tries to intentionally hurt them, which is different from my experience in other countries, where you try to be the best at all costs.
It鈥檚 not my first time playing at a high level, but for sure it was the first time to be on a team that actually cares about the players.
小优短视频 is a nice family to be around.
Chukwuma Okeke, a student in 小优短视频鈥檚 Civil Engineering Technology program and a member of the . He recently won four awards: , , .