A crack rings out in the gym as she strikes the ball into the corner of the court, lightning-fast on her feet. The ball bounces on the edge of the court, catching the other team off guard and earning an instant point for Harker. As the audience erupts into cheers, Lauren Beede (12) turns around to high five her teammates. The piercing noise of the referee’s whistle cuts through the gym as the other team calls a time out, their slumped shoulders already signaling their acceptance of defeat. On the other side of the court, the Harker team celebrates, throwing their arms around each other in a huddle. Lauren’s laugh rings out through the gym as she motivates her teammates with her own infectious energy, her eyes sparkling and her smile shining as bright as the lights in the gym. 

Ever since Lauren started playing volleyball in fourth grade, she has thrown herself into the sport with unrivaled energy. Volleyball has had a huge impact on Lauren’s life and how she views herself, and she herself recognizes that.

“Ending last year’s season on a high note and then just going into a club season and now this season, I think [volleyball’s] just given me a lot of confidence to be able to express myself,” Lauren said. 

Not only is Lauren more confident in herself, but her outgoing nature affects others around her positively as well, which is a quality that many of her friends admire and try to emulate. Carolyn Lu (12), one of Lauren’s close friends, says that she’s always admired Lauren’s social skills. 

“[Lauren] brings out that side of people because she just has that energy that makes you want to do the same thing, and makes embarrassing things become not embarrassing, just because she’s there with you,” Carolyn said.

The confidence of last year’s success in volleyball not only spurred Lauren to be more true to herself, but also did more than just that. It drove her to be more positive after she saw how important a positive mentality was to her team and their success.

“I think that’s what made us go so far in CCS last year…cheering each other on and the love that we had for each other moving into the year. What really helps us keep our positive mentality is understanding each other and why we’re fighting on the court,” Lauren said.

Lauren’s newfound confidence has also made her more self-aware, especially when compared to her early high school self, as her adviser, Michael Acheatel, observed. He realized as soon as she stepped in his room that Lauren would be a positive member of the advisory, but as a freshman, she was less in touch with her emotions than she is now.

“She’s much more emotionally stable and grounded and knows when she needs help and knows when she doesn’t. She knows how to handle the ebbs and flows of being a teenager,” Acheatel said. 

Lauren believes that her transformation happened fairly recently, in large part because of volleyball, about half-way through junior year. That’s one of the reasons that she loves junior year; it was a major turning point for her. 

“[Junior year’s] going to be what I remember the most just because we had that last season, but ending on that really good season, that’s always going to be a memory that I’ll have…just finding myself and being able to express myself,” Lauren said. 

Volleyball has had a major impact on Lauren’s outlook on life, and in return, Lauren has dedicated massive amounts of her time to it, from organizing the Dig Pink match this year to being co-captain of the varsity team. But the amount of time she’s put in has never bothered her. 

“Her main goal is just to help people, so with hosting the Dig Pink match, she never found it to be any trouble, even with all the extra time because she genuinely enjoyed helping others,” Carolyn said. 

As Lauren enters a new phase of her life, she hopes to keep her life-changing positive mentality and self-confidence. Before she goes on to college, though, she made sure to pass her wisdom onto her friends and family, including her younger brother, Tyler Beede (9).

“She’s always telling me to do what I want to do in high school and not to care about what other people think,” Tyler said. 

Lauren’s determination and faithfulness to reach her own goals was a result of her experiences in junior year. Although it wasn’t intended to be a 2019 resolution, Lauren believed that when she took time to reflect upon herself, she was able to become more familiar with her inner self and find a new sense of self-understanding.

“I realized that this isn’t really who I am and that I wanted to express who I was to other people,” Lauren said. “I just gained this newfound sense of confidence, and especially in volleyball … I think it’s given me a lot of confidence to be able to express myself in my own way.”