From losing every single game Skyla Parker’s freshmen year at Harding Charter Prep High School, to setting records for the best volleyball season in school history Parker experienced both the ups and downs of being part of an organized sport.
Parker, 17, said she worked hard to catch her coach’s attention and looked to varsity players to improve her game. In Parker’s point of view all of the hours that she put into volleyball her freshmen year paid off, as her goal of becoming a varsity player was achieved her sophomore year. However, junior year was when Parker and her fellow teammates made school history by placing in regionals, something that had never been accomplished before.
The newfound record put a lot of pressure onto the team to do even better next season. The entire school had high expectations for the 2015-2016 varsity volleyball team, that Parker was determined to uphold.
However, in one of the tournaments Parker- now the co-captain of the team as a senior- landed on her shoulder and injured herself. She continued to play volleyball two weeks after injuring herself, but decided to see a doctor when the pain became unbearable.
Parker’s injuries were extensive and she was required to have corrective surgery, including extensive rehabilitation exercises for the next 1.5 years. The doctor Parker saw recommended that she no longer play in competitive sports, which completely threw her plans through a loop.
Although Parker had never planned to play volleyball in college, she wanted to continue with the sport to give her something to do in her free time. With volleyball out of the question Parker decided to focus her time on something that would help her accomplish a long term goal. Her outlet? Yearbook.
Journalism was a field that Parker wanted to explore in college, and even though she wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted to do, telling stories was appealing to her. Parker had already visited Gaylord College the summer of ’15 to participate in the Oklahoma Institute for Diversity in Journalism [OIDJ] and quickly determined that The University of Oklahoma [OU] was where she wanted to spend the next four years earning her degree.
