Photo by: Darrell Hoemann/The News-Gazette

Laura DeBruler will be on the cover of the August issue of HQ Magazine. She was kind enough to visit our downtown Champaign studio – along with volleyball sports information contact Mike Koon – for a photo shoot in February.

Check out our last Illini with a diary here

Laura DeBruler, an All-American on the Illini's nationally ranked volleyball team, has been kind enough to provide a behind-the-scenes look at her final season by writing a monthly diary for The News-Gazette. Her first entry:

First off, I want to say that this is such an honor to write for The News-Gazette! Hopefully, you will be able to see another view of what my life is like outside of the gym.

This past month has been an absolute whirlwind. I finished my junior year of college, went to the NCAA Sport and Career Forum, and participated at USA Volleyball's Adult Open Nationals, playing on the USA A2 Team.

During winter break, I was asked by my academic adviser if I wanted to apply to the Career and Sport Forum Conference. I was told this conference was for athletes who wanted to pursue a job either as a coach or as an administrator. Because I want to be a college coach, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity.

Well, I ended up being accepted!

At the conference, I met people from all over the country, different sports and divisions. I learned how to budget a team's expenses, how to talk to the media in a time of crisis, and even the proper etiquette before and during an interview.

I also learned about some of my strengths and weaknesses through a DISC assessment and had an inside look at what it is like to coach at the collegiate level. DISC stands for Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness, and is based on the work of psychologist William Moulton Marston. Overall, it was a great experience.

My busy May continued as I traveled to Arizona to practice and compete with the USA A2 team. I also did so last year and had a great time, so I tried out again and made it. This year we are practicing at Arizona State University for five days and then competing in Adult Open Nationals.

It has been fun being able to play again and also to play with people from all over the place. It is always a challenge trying to put a team together when people come from all different types of programs that are run differently. Hopefully this year we can win the tournament.

See you next month!