Bump, Set, Spike with Caroline Jarmoc
Oct. 8, 2010
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
The redshirt freshman tackles a variety of questions from pre-game meals to post- game rituals and cold winters in her native Canada.
Q: This is your first full season playing with the team, how is it going so far?
CJ: “It’s going well. This season is completely different for me because last year I knew I wasn’t playing so I didn’t have to mentally prepare myself to play in games. This season I have to prepare for each and every game. Also, I don’t have the experience of playing on a college level but practice last year helped a lot to work on game situations. It’s just all together different when you have to actually execute game plans when it’s all going so fast.”
Q: What is one memory you’ll always take with you about your first start?
CJ: “I was really happy with myself that I was able to play aggressive and win MVP accolades in one of our opening tournaments (Jayhawk Classic, Sept. 3-4). It was great just getting out on the court with everybody and being able to be involved with the team during game time as well as time-outs with the coach.”
Q: What is the best thing about playing for Coach Bechard?
CJ: “He is very good at remaining calm and not adding stress to the situation. He tries to get everybody to collect their thoughts and get them back on the court ready to play.”
Q: You came to Kansas from Calgary, what specifically brought you to this university?
CJ: “It was definitely the girls on the team. When I came on my visit, it was very natural and smooth and I felt like I already knew everybody. I talked to pretty much everyone on the team and it was just very comfortable, so I came here and I never looked back.”
Q: What do you miss most about home?
CJ: “I am pretty independent but sometimes I just miss running into people I know. I’d say the biggest thing I miss is definitely having the support from my family. Here, if I have a bad day, it’s my roommate or my teammates that I can talk to or lean on for support. I miss being able to share that with my family, but otherwise, I’m not really homesick that much.”
Q: What was the biggest adjustment of coming to another country for school?
CJ: “I’d say restarting my own life. I had to buy everything… even appliances and bedding. I also had to make new friendships because I came here all alone, so really I had to make a name for myself.”
Q: Is there something that Americans do or say that Canadians might find strange or not be accustomed to?
CJ: “The one thing that I noticed, and most Canadians do too, is the intensity of everything like homecoming and cheerleading. In Canada we just don’t have that because everything is a lot mellower in our high schools. At universities we have Greek houses, but it’s not as intense as it is here. Sometimes I have to ask teammates to explain certain traditions like homecoming to me because I never experienced anything like that back home.”
Q: How often to you go home to Alberta?
CJ: “I go home twice a year. Once for Christmas and again right after the spring semester ends but before summer school starts. So far I have been home twice since I’ve been at KU.”
Q: What’s the most challenging part about being a student-athlete?
CJ: “I’m sure you hear it over and over but it’s time management. Some days I feel like I can’t get everything done at once. You just run out of time in a day and it’s so difficult because every professor assigns you work as if it’s your only class and I’m taking four classes this semester. After class I go directly to practice and then coaches there want you to be completely focused and concentrate on nothing but volleyball. Once it’s over you have to go home and do homework, which is sometimes tough after you’ve had a really intense practice.”
Q: What do you get the biggest thrill out of…Blocking a hit or making a kill?
CJ: “Definitely blocking because it’s my biggest job and I work so hard for that. It’s especially great when you block one hard into the ground. It’s such a great feeling and then to have your teammates come over and congratulate you and give you high fives, I love it.”
Q: How old were you when you first started playing volleyball?
CJ: “I first started playing in sixth grade but I was very bad then, so the first club year I played was my eighth grade year. Things really started to click in seventh grade though.”
Q: You are listed at 6’2, where you ever teased or made fun of while growing up because of your height?
CJ: “I was never made fun of because most people were intimidated by me, sometimes even the teachers I think. I’m pretty confident so people knew not to tease me. I was always reminded that I am tall on a day-to-day basis.”
Q: Do you have any nicknames while on the court?
CJ: “It’s funny but no one really calls me Caroline on the team. It’s either `Jac’, `Jac Mac’, `Jar’, `Canada’, `Curl’, or `Carol’. I respond to each nickname.”
Q: What do you eat/drink before a match?
CJ: “We usually will have some sort meal consisting of protein and carbs that can get us through the match. Our team is very healthy so we try not to eat anything bad or unhealthy before a match.”
Q: Who is your funniest teammate?
CJ: “I’d say Catherine (Carmichael). We’re pretty close. In fact, people call us twins because we’re so similar and we’re almost always together. People are always telling me she is my second half and when someone sees one of us without the other, they ask `where is your second half?'”
Q: Do you have any volleyball aspirations after college?
CJ: “At the moment I would like to go play professionally in Europe. My brother just got a pro contract in Greece so I want to follow in his footsteps. My sister is also trying to play over there professionally.”
Q: What’s more tolerable…A Kansas winter or a Calgary winter?
CJ: “Kansas for sure! I’m not really here at the peak of the winter because I am back home for break, but Calgary is dry and really cold. It won’t snow a lot but it will be about -40 degrees and it will hurt your skin. Last winter we had a record breaking -70 degrees.”
