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Exchange Student Lourdes Escobar Gives Volleyball a Chance 

Junior foreign exchange Lourdes Escobar Rodriguez, back right, with the Elmira Falcons JV volleyball team. (Photo by EHS student Paisley Davis)

I’m an exchange student from Spain and when I arrived in the United States I didn’t know what sport to do, so I decided to try volleyball and I entered the JV team.

Escobar with her host sister Baya Rinehart on picture day. (contributed photo)

I have always really liked sports and back in Spain I did dance since I was 3 years old.

When I came to the United States I decided I wanted to try something else. I didn’t know which one to choose because I didn’t have much experience in any of them, but since my host sister plays volleyball, she told me to give it a try.

At first I wasn’t very good at it because as I said, I had never played volleyball before, but over the weeks I began improving a lot and I think I have found a new passion for this sport.

What has also helped me a lot to continue improving were my teammates because they have always been there supporting me and giving me advice so I can improve day after day.

I really enjoyed every game we played and what I liked most was when we celebrated every point we scored, no matter if we were winning or losing.

I felt really comfortable doing this sport. Each day, each practice and each game I realized that volleyball is what I want to do.

Earning the Most Improved Player award has encouraged Escobar to continue with the sport. (Photo by Lourdes Escobar-Rodriguez / Falcon News)

At the end of the season, the entire JV and Varsity team had a banquet, and I thought it was a good way to end the season. Everyone brought food and at the end of the banquet the coaches of each team gave prizes to some players. They gave me the award for the player who had improved the most and that gave me a lot of happiness and has encouraged me to continue with the sport.

In Spain, we do not have a high school volleyball team, but there are teams outside of high school. I have been thinking about it, and when I return to Spain I want to continue with volleyball because I have realized that I like it a lot and I feel very comfortable doing it.