Thursday, August 7, 2014

Whatever became of the Little Mixed Girl??

Well Hello, hello everyone! Yes, I am still alive and running around this crazy world starting new journeys! I do apologize to all of those who followed my adventure in Finland and were left to wonder what had become of the Little Mixed Girl. After it was brought to my attention that I kind of left y'all hanging I figured I better do an update and what better time than on the eve of the 2014 VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON commencement?! No fear, I did not get eaten by a lynx or drown during an ice swimming escapade. I simply got caught up in, well, life. So sit back, grab something cool to drink and enjoy!

Spring Is Near!

As I sit here in the heat of August, which has actually been rare lately, I can proudly say I survived a Finnish winter. In my last entry I described the beauty of Finland and all the exciting winter activities it has to offer. As the days got longer I was finally glad once the sun stayed up past 4PM, which also meant the light at the end of the tunnel for our regular season. We finished our season in a heartbreaking loss to OrPo putting us in 3rd going into the post season. Since only the top two seeded teams bypass the quarterfinals, our first team up was WoVo alllllll the way in Lapland. In a 2-1 series victory we advanced to the semi-finals to play the top seeded team, the team we had beat for the Suomi Cup but couldn't manage to handle during the regular season: Salo. So I'm sure you could imagine my annoyance, frustration, and hunger to FINALLY beat this team. Semi-final and Final matches in the Finnish league are organized like the NBA, a 7 game series but with matches only a few days apart. In the first match we managed to take a set off of them but lost in four, a loss, which still bothers me to say somewhat, sealed our fate for the remaining matches. After hosting the first match at home we had to go to Salo twice, in their gym and in front of their home crowed, for games 2 and 3 of the series. Despite our efforts we dropped the two matches in 3 and ended at home with a season loss. To know my time with these girls had come to an end hurt more than the loss. I played my ass off for the team, was named team MVP 4 out of the 7 post-season matches and had nothing left to give (I actually think I loss feeling in my left leg after POUNDING the floor with my hip while trying to save a ball, anything to win right?). In true Finnish fashion, we were able to conclude our season by a team dinner at Amarillo's with plenty of margaritas and chocolate martini's then ended the night at the good 'ol Fat Lady dancing the night away. The next few days, and my last, were spent just enjoying life with new friends in a foreign country. I am VERY proud to say I checked "learn how to drive a manual car" off of my bucket list due to my best friend on the team. It was a scary experience but one I'm very glad I was able to live through ;). We laughed, we cried, we spent time in the sauna, had a girls day in Estonia and I even taught them how to play beer pong (with long drink we stocked up on during our trip to Estonia). They were days I never wanted to end and ones I'll never forget. 

Whenever people ask me about my time in Finland I just smile. I had the time of my life. I left a wide-eyed 23-year-old ready to take on whatever was thrown at me and I did just that. I met unforgettable people who I still keep in contact to this day and have developed such a love and appreciation for all that Europe has to offer. My desire to travel stems from my passion for people and love of culture. To know how much World is still out there for me to discover keeps my wheels turning. Thank you to everyone who made Finland my home, without you I would have returned a stupid American. <3 Suomi Forever.

[If you want to see more pictures from my time in Finland hop on over to my Facebook page! -- https://www.facebook.com/kayla.jeter ]


"The Other Side" 
So for those of you who don't follow me on social media or I don't speak with on an every day basis may be wonder what I'm up to these days. During my time in Finland I had a lot of time to figure out what I want from life, how I want to leave my mark. Well, I'm still trying to figure all of that out but I did decide that I wanted to return to the States for a while. Spending so much time away from my family in college and missing out on special family moments really made me think about how I wanted to spend these next few years. After many talks with my life mentors and weighing my options, I decided it was time for me to hang up my sneaks and see what else life had to offer for me. Although my time as a player had come to an end, I knew I still wanted to be involved in athletics in fitness. I mean has run my life for the past 10 years. So I decided to look towards Graduate Assistant positions to get my second master's in Health and Exercise. During my research I came across the University of Cincinnati, they had exactly the program I wanted and it was an ideal distance from home and my southern home (Knoxville). Initially I did not see any GA positions open but I thought, "What the heck, why not contact the Head Coach and see if I can help?" Turns out I couldn't have contacted a better program. My boss and Cincinnati Head Coach Molly Alvey knew me previously from her time at Ole Miss, the assistant coach Phillip White had worked with my younger sister during his club days and the volleyball AD had come from Tennessee! Talk about a perfect! I applied for the program and then discovered there was an assistant coach position opening, which I was selected to fill and can now say I am a Bearcat!

For the past four months I have been getting to life as an assistant coach while enjoying my new home. It has been a non-stop ride since I landed back on American soil, I moved to Cincinnati two days later to begin my job, and I've been loving every moment! The girls are great, my staff is awesome, and being a Bearcat is just like being with family. I could not represent a better program and work with better people. To say I am blessed is an understatement. God has a plan.



Live your passion :: Love on purpose

1 comment:

  1. Hi Kayla! I'm Hanna Hietikko from Seurakuntalainen.fi - Finnish Christian web magazine. :) I'd like to make an interview of you next week! I knew that you were part of LP Kangasala last season and I also saw you playing! Volleyball is also my passion. In the interview I'd like to focus on your career as a player and coach and also your faith. Contact me soon if you're interested. 😃

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