By Angelina Falco
Herald Intern
There is only an hour long difference between eastern and central time for most, but for freshman Ariel Gogley at Tennessee Tech University, the time change entails much more than that. Majoring in pre-physical therapy, Gogley went into her college applications with many of her college credits earned already, now being an academic junior in her first semester at Tennessee Tech. Gogley is a student-athlete who graduated from The Master’s Academy in Oviedo. She has played volleyball locally with club teams and eventually got signed with Tennessee Tech, where she plays as a blocker or right-side hitter, depending on the test.
Before attending university, Gogley was awarded the Student Athlete Scholarship by National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS), recognizing her leadership, academic excellence, and resilience as both a scholar and athlete. A former national champion figure skater, Gogley started her athleticism again through volleyball.
“I decided to leave skating and it was tough. But then my dad said, ‘You’re going to play volleyball now. There’s a coach who wants you to come play for them and you’re going to try it out,’ and at first I didn’t want to do it. But, I went and tried it and ended up liking it, and now I play it in college,” Gogley said.
Gogley was performing alone on a national stage and, through this change, had to go through the trials of high school sport seniority. She went from junior varsity and worked her way up to a varsity spot, all while managing AP classes, early morning practices, community service, and making her plans to pursue physical therapy and sports medicine. Through her time in college already, she is experiencing similar aspects and is working to manage time through it all. While some years seemed harder than others, Gogley continued to learn how to manage time throughout her schooling.
“During my junior year of high school, I decided to take all AP and dual enrollment classes. Like, all the hardest classes you could ever take. And at first I thought it was terrible, but it forced me to focus and learn how to juggle all these hard classes,” Gogley said. “So in college, I have two classes a day and not nearly as much homework. It felt like a struggle back then when I was juggling sports, academics, and life, but now I don’t feel as flustered. Even though I probably do have more work, my junior year really helped me set a standard of comparison.”
Gogley is continuing her volleyball career at Tennessee Tech University through beach volleyball and working toward her bachelor’s in sports medicine.
