Jenny Durica is a volleyball player at Penn State, and she's not your typical college athlete. Rather, she's an athlete on the women's club volleyball team for the Nittany Lions. Although some might think that club sports are just a way for college students to kill time in between classes, Jenny proves that it's not all fun and games. Here's how she balances school and her sport, why she chose club volleyball over D1, and more. 

What is your major at Penn State? Do you want to do anything related to sports after graduation?

I'm a kinesiology major with the exercise and health option. I hope to work in strength and conditioning either at the collegiate or professional level after school and eventually open up my own training facility. And hopefully I will coach volleyball as well.

What has motivated you to further your volleyball career at Penn State?

Penn State is very well known for being prestigious in its academics and athletics and I know I would also get to play high quality volleyball as well as get a high quality education.

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Is there a next step after club volleyball for your 4th year?

I definitely would love to if it's possible and obviously that's always been a goal of mine to play Division I. So if it is available to me I would definitely take the opportunity.

Have you attended any camps or outside tournaments not involved with the school? 

I did not attend any Penn State camps but I did attend some other camps outside of Penn State or some programs that I found within the area. I also played a lot of outdoor volleyball, [and] some grass volleyball. I also played with a group of friends in some indoor leagues throughout the season. 

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How would you say that has helped you and would you recommend it to athletes looking to further their athletic career at a collegiate level?

It for sure helped. As an athlete, the more touches you get on a ball, the better you're gonna be able to play, that goes for any sport. Rather than just strength and conditioning training it also helps to get in sport because the more touches you get the more likely you are to improve.

Do you have a busy schedule? How do you find a balance between academics, sports, and social life?

“Busy” is an understatement. The most important thing is time management and organization. Knowing when all your assignments are due, whenever you have to do projects, exams, and having proper time management so you don't do anything last minute. Procrastination, something I struggle with, so try to avoid procrastinating as much as possible and having optimal time management.

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What's your biggest advice for a prospective athlete?

Fall in love with the process. Some people don't achieve their goals because they don't see immediate results right away because they just think everything should be handed to them. Or once you start something it will come so easily to you. A lot of people don't put in the work or keep going through the hard times to achieve their goals and achieve their dreams. The best thing is to not use challenges or failure as failure and see those as lessons and motivation to attack the next challenge.

What would you say has been your favorite part of your athletic career in volleyball? 

Definitely the lessons that athletics has taught me along the way. Falling in love with the process. It's a big thing not only in athletics but also in life to not expect everything to come easy to you. A lot of our world today is negative, and instead of just looking at it as just negative, using that as improvement for whenever you're tackling the future. And definitely the people I've met along the way, I've met some of my absolute best friends through sports and through volleyball so that's definitely been helpful.

You can follow Jenny Durica on Instagram: @jenny_durica 

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* Originally published on November 8, 2022, by Lilia Farach