Hello everyone!! My name is Kiersten and I am a rising sophomore at the finest college in all of America. Although I am excited to go back to the best place with the best people, I am enjoying my time off very, very much.
My summer started off, as it always has for the past four years… working at Hewlett Point Park aka “The Hoint”. Since I was one of the oldies of the crew, I got to work part time before the pool and bay opened. During this time we would mow the lawn, pick weeds, untangle rope, sweep the pool, hang up large signs, and do any other maintenance task you could think of. To be honest, we spent most of our eight hours playing Rako or just catching up on our school years.
Since I was only working part time, I got to do some fun things with my friends. Early June, a few people and I went to a music festival on Randall’s Island. I got to see some of my favorite artists AND some fellow Geneseo vball gals ;). My favorite performer was definitely Khalid. It was a relaxing vibe and he is such a great singer.
Another adventure my friends went on was to the Botanical Gardens in Brooklyn. Sadly, I did not take that many pictures because I kinda just wanted to “be in the moment”. But let me tell you, it was gorgeous. I would say my favorite section is the desert plants. We don’t get to see those plants around NY so it was cool. It was SO COOL I decided to touch the cacti. Not the smartest decision because I kept finding prickles in my hand for like an hour (totally worth it).
The last hoorah before I started working full time was the visit from my upstate gals. Everyone and their mother have already spoken about this in their own blog but I’m going to repeat it because it was the best weekend of the summer. It was so great to see (mostly) everyone again!! It was also nice to see some non Geneseo vballers. Shoutout to Liv and Kelly.
The day the upstaters left, was the day I began working full time as a lifeguard and I have been full time every since. Working full time is not as terrible as it sounds. I FINALLY got my tan back and have a more structured schedule. We have also had a pretty exciting summer this year: a large dead fish in the bay, a seizure, a missing mom, and my first ever save! The Town of Hempstead has blessed us with an AMAZING crew to handle all the craziness.
In addition to my lifeguarding job, I started working at a beach volleyball club called Power Advantage. I coach every Wednesday for three hours, grades 6-8. It is so nice to be in a volleyball atmosphere when I’ve been away for so long. It is also fun working with the kids in the club. They are friendly, energetic, and ready to play. I am so grateful I get to work while doing something I love!
After the workday whether it’s lifeguarding or coaching, I do a bunch of different things. Most of the time I will hang out with my boyfriend (and coworker) Jared. We have recently finished New Girl on Netflix and have now started Arrested Development. When we aren’t watching Netflix, you can catch us at our high school fields doing speed and conditioning drills, playing Super Mario Bros, or playing 1 on 1 basketball.
If I am hanging out with my friends from home after work, we usually watch movies. We watched a ridiculous Lifetime movie recently (if you have seen one you know why it is ridiculous). We also watched a scary movie on Netlfix the other day called Let Me In. It wasn’t really that good. My friends just love scary movies…personally I’m not that big of a fan.
With my work friends, we had some crew dinners and a crew pool party. All events were so fun and I cannot wait to have more in the future. I love the new people that have come in this year which include our new officers and our three new rookies (soon to be four with my sister Lindsay). The newbies are great, but I love my old Hoint guards just as much. We have all grown up a lot and it is making me feel SO OLD that I am a fourth year guard and that all my friends are becoming ADULTS. But instead of thinking of that we will all enjoy our numbered days left at the Hoint together.
DISCLAIMER: None of these photos were taken on town time. Down time is town time 😉
Now that is pretty much all that has happened in my summer thus far. My future summer plans are to get recertified for lifeguarding (which is today if you are reading this on July 11th… pray I get my time), play in a beach volleyball tournament with Gabby (fellow GSUVB member), to have fun with friends and family, and to keep working hard.
To all returning and incoming Geneseo Volleyball members,
I hope you are having a lovely summer and are grinding out your Volts. There is only a mere six and a-half weeks until preseason. And if that isn’t hype enough for you, then I don’t know what is. BUT UNTIL THEN, enjoy your summer, get a nice tan, and stay hungry.
Godspeed,
Kiersten
Geneseo Volleyball Blog 