The start of a fresh school year calls for new opportunities and experiences, especially for the 2024-2025 Garden City Community College Women’s Volleyball team. To kick off the last few preseason games, the GCCC team got the chance to fly down south to the ‘Sunshine State’ to take on their first few away games. While the girls got three wins under their belt, they also got to endure a weekend full of Florida fun.
Starting off with a drive to a local Pensacola escape room. The volleyball squad was split in half and took on a sixty-minute challenge to try to escape several difficult rooms. Not only did the team get to test their critical thinking skills, but even got to go on an outing to the Pensacola Mall. Of course, the bunch got to end their ‘business trip’ by going to the beach.
We got the chance to interview a couple of the internationals on the team to get their input on the trip. Considering it was the first time they have been in the United States there were a series of questions about Florida that had to be answered.
First up was Katarina Miscevic from Beograd, Serbia. She is a 6’2 first-year middle blocker for the Busters.
“I have been to the beach many times in Montenegro, Serbia. But those were beaches on the sea, not the ocean. I was delighted, it was like a movie for me,” Miscevic said.
The beach was such beautiful scenery for everyone to experience. When asked if she would go back to the beach Miscevic stated, “Of course, if I could, I would live by the ocean.”
Miscevic expressed that her favorite part about the beach was the sand. “I liked the sand a lot. On the beach, the sand was white, and the ocean was blue. I liked that the ocean is big.”
There was not one thing that Miscevic did not like, she loved everything about the waterscape.
We then went on to ask Duru Karagoz the same series of questions. Duru is a 6’2 first-year middle blocker from Antalya, Turkey. Karagoz shared that she had not been to the beach before. Like Miscevic, Karagoz also loved the sand the most about the beach. She went on to mention how different Florida sand was to the sand back home in Turkey.
“In Turkey sand is a beige color, but here it is white,” Karagoz said.
She would also love to go back to the beach. Although she did not favor the seaweed in the water, as expected. Feedback from the players provided insight into the trip and the adventures that the team got to experience.
