DIG R KNIGHTS: Alissa Kinkela
Sep 16 | Women's Volleyball
Q: What is your earliest volleyball memory?
A: I was in a volleyball program for little kids, and two people who were my closest friends there urged me to come to training every week. That pushed me to go to training because I wanted to see them and have fun with them. I used to get in trouble quite a bit, but that's how I blossomed as a volleyball player because I stuck around because of those two people.
Q: How did you get to represent Australia on the U17 team?
A: Back in Australia, volleyball is quite small so essentially everyone knows everybody in every state, no matter what age you are. I started building my profile in the sport at a young age attending camps and got to know a lot of coaches and coaches associated with the national team. They saw me develop from there.
Q: How would you describe yourself as a teammate?
A: I can be quite shy and tend to be an introvert, but when it comes to games, especially if I'm on the bench, then you can ask anyone that I tend to come out of my shell. I'm really quite loud and I have fun on the bench. I think I'm fun to be around too because of my accent.
Q: What has been the biggest adjustment to volleyball from Australia to the United States?
A: The intensity and how fast-paced the sport is here. It's called the "Big" Ten for a reason. Everyone is big, they play intensely and they play with great determination. In Australia, it's competitive, but it's not as strong as it is here.
Q: While your major is undecided currently, you've expressed an interest in psychology. What is it about the major that interests you and what would you like to do with it?
A: Essentially the broad definition of this course is an interdisciplinary study of cognition and mind. I am intrigued about how the body works and how the neuro functions in the body work. I would like to become either a teacher in psychology or use my skills in helping sports teams or just helping people in general. I studied psychology when I was back in high school for two years and the content in general really intrigued me. I love to learn how and why things work out, how the body works and how messages get delivered to neurons and all that so I was just very interesting.
Q: Being from Australia, your teammates have created a list of foods you must try while you are here in the United States. What is on the list? What have you tried?
A: So far I've tried s'mores and it's magical. I love that so much. I had Chick-Fil-A. I've tried Uncrustables, which I didn't like as much, but I also don't like peanut butter. I have yet to try deep dish pizza and chicken and waffles, which sounds quite unusual to me. Also, just plain American cheese because it's just so artificially yellow and I'm intrigued as to what that tastes like. And then there's funnel cake which I'm excited to try.
Q: Conversely, are there any foods from Australia you'd like to try and get your teammates to try?
A: I want them to try Vegemite. I know two of them have tried it. One kind of likes and the other one despise it. The trick is you have to have white bread with butter. I want them to try it because they all screw up the noses at it. I have a feeling that won't like it.
Q: What is a fun fact about yourself?
A: I'm terrified of balloons. Another thing is that I hate being late. If I'm ever late, it's either because someone I'm with is late or something happened.
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