Senior Column: Katie Knight

I’ve wanted to be a Husker since I was 12.

I remember sitting at home on YouTube, watching their top-10 ranked volleyball team’s season highlight reels in awe, wanting to be exactly like those girls. They moved quicker than I had ever seen, and they sprawled after balls while still maintaining grace — it didn’t take much time for me to make up my mind: I was going to be a part of that team.

I was going to join them as an outside hitter. I was going to be their star player, and help lead them to yet another national championship. I was going to receive a full-ride scholarship and go to college for free. I had my plan all set in place.

After joining a club volleyball team when I was 12, I spent the next six years preparing for what I believed would be the rest of my life. When my team became nationally ranked when I was 14, I spent hours in the gym each week — if I didn’t have a national qualifier tournament, I was practicing. If I wasn’t practicing, then I had private lessons. If I didn’t have lessons, then I was constantly worrying about losing my starting spot, or throwing up at practice after our ridiculous amounts of conditioning.

And through my years on the court, I continued to improve in both my physical and mental skills. My coach was the toughest guy around, and he prepared me for the intense college athlete environment that I was heading toward.

And yet, God, with his careful sense of humor, threw me the biggest curveball possible.

I am going to Nebraska. But not for volleyball.

Even with roughly five college offers, I quit volleyball at the end of last summer after my sixth straight Junior Olympics. The way it consumed my every thought and action bothered me, and the way I felt about the sport was essentially idolatry. I drew the line when volleyball began to overshadow my God, my life, my family.

After making up my mind that my sport was too life-consuming, I’ve had a volleyball-free senior year. And it’s been blissful.

I’ve gotten to spend the remainder of my time at East doing what I love the most — being part of the best newspaper in the country. And thanks to Harbinger, I’ve found my passion in journalism. God made it pretty clear to me: I’m not supposed to play volleyball for the rest of my life. I’m meant to be a journalist.

And I did get part of my wish: I did get a full ride scholarship, but for joining one of the best college journalism programs in the country rather than one of the best volleyball programs. The irony of it all gets to me every time.

So now I’m on the road to Lincoln, ready to change the world as a journalist. I’m ready to make a difference, and see where the heck this rollercoaster takes me. Even if it’s not where I always expected to be.