Life of an Athlete: Brother instills lifelong lesson of perseverance

Editor’s note: UCLA men’s volleyball player Steve O’Dell is writing a biweekly guest column pertaining to his experiences as a Division I student-athlete. Every other Wednesday, the Daily Bruin will run a perspective piece from O’Dell focusing on a facet of his experience at UCLA.

BY STEVE O’DELL

The season is in full swing.

We played three matches in the last two weeks, finishing up 2-1, and the academic challenges have collided head-on with our rigorous playing schedule.

I briefly mentioned in the last column that our games are like midterms: They require hours of preparation. We watch around two hours of film as a team before each game, spend time memorizing the game plan and visualize every possible situation. On top of that, we have real midterms too.

Finding the correct balance between school and sports is difficult. Even after three years, I’m still not very good at finding an equilibrium between athletics and academics.

My attempts to find my footing in both these aspects of life started back in middle school when I played for my older brother.

My brother John (JOD), 14 years my senior, played an invaluable role in my maturity as a volleyball player and more importantly, as a man.

After playing club volleyball at Penn State, John returned to Rochester, N.Y. – our hometown – to coach middle school volleyball. By this time, I already had a few years of club ball under my belt and looked forward to finally playing for my older brother. JOD took a job coaching for the same club I played for, Pace Bootlegger, and I played for his team when I was 13. It proved to be one of the most rewarding seasons of my life.

I learned many lessons that year, and it was the first time in my life when where I understood what it means to work hard – to give everything you have for one goal.

Surprisingly though, John’s most valuable lesson took place off the court. JOD didn’t live at home anymore, so he made a point to pick me up before practice and we would drive there together.

Every ride, JOD would play the song “I Can” by the rapper Nas. At first, the song meant nothing, it was just another rap song he liked. However, he continued to play it. The chorus goes like this: “I know I can/ Be what I wanna be/ If I work hard at it/ I’ll be where I wanna be.”

As the season progressed, those four lines transformed from the chorus of a rap song to my beliefs on life. The lines are profound. They became my motivation. The next time my team lost, I felt deflated or someone told me, “You’ll never be good enough,” Nas’ voice would echo resoundingly in the back of my head.

“I know I can/ Be what I wanna be/ If I work hard at it/ I’ll be where I wanna be.” I followed that auspicious chorus with tremendous effort for the next four years and ended up right where I want to be – at UCLA, playing the sport I love.

The advice my brother provided through that song helped me to handle all kinds of challenges – on the court and in the classroom.