While athletes are competing for gold in Sochi, ASUU is taking Olympic celebration into its own hands.
Olympic beach volleyball gold medalist Misty May-Treanor spoke in the Union Ballroom on Wednesday, Feb. 12, in an event organized by ASUU’s Campus Events Board.
May-Treanor said the key to success like hers is “never being satisfied.”
“When you feel you’re good enough, you lose that passion. There are always things I want to improve on, and we [May-Treanor and her volleyball partner Kerri Walsh Jennings] were always finding ways to improve and get better,” she said.
May-Treanor received her master’s degree while training for the Olympics and is currently multitasking as both a mother and an athlete.
Still, achieving balance is hard, even for this Olympian.
“It makes it easier when you have a team who has the same goal. But it gets tough,” she said.
Monica Salas, senior in health promotion and education, organized the event. She said ASUU hoped the event would help students realize they can follow their dreams when they have hard work and dedication.
“I want students to be able to see and learn from that balance she shows,” Salas said.
May-Treanor came with the same goal of helping students aim for their goals.
“You can’t let anybody tell you what dream you can or can’t have. It’s about the choices you make […] and surrounding yourself with people who will help lift you up to those goals,” she said.
It is important for everyone to follow these unique goals and dreams, she said.
Salas and Daniel Jones, assistant volleyball coach for the U, mediated the conversation with May-Treanor. The crowd of over 100 people sat quietly as May-Treanor answered Jones’, Salas’ and the audience’s questions in a light-hearted tone. May-Treanor joked with the mediators and was immediately relaxed on the chair on stage. “I haven’t been here for a while,” she said as she leaned back into her chair.
May-Treanor has loved traveling all over the world for her sport and sharing her experiences with others, including her family.
“It’s how we get to do what we do,” she said.
After all of her experiences, she does have one lesson she carries wherever she goes and hopes to pass on to her kids.
“There’s people who have it far worse,” she said. “I remember that, and it puts everything into perspective.”
Students were thrilled to see an Olympian they looked up to visit the U.
“I played volleyball in school, so I’m just a huge fan,” said Paige Allred, a graduate student in education of history and science.
Keeping with the light-hearted spirit May-Treanor used in her answers, undeclared sophomore Evan Eggiman stood and asked May-Treanor, “I know you have a husband, but would you be my Valentine?”
May-Treanor replied, “Sure, but don’t tell my husband.”
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