This week on Patriot Profiles, George Mason Women's Volleyball will profile the team's newcomers. Today, Pihla Jarvenpaa talks about coming to the United States from Finland, her decision to transfer to Mason and her career aspirations.
Previous entries include Emily Haak.
When I started playing volleyball as a 9-year-old, all I wanted to do was have fun, get a little bit better each day, and see where that could take me. I couldn't have imagined that I would end up moving from Finland to the United States after high school and eventually playing Division 1 volleyball here at George Mason. I didn't even think about playing college volleyball in the United States until my senior year of high school, but decided to give it a try when I found out how great of an opportunity combining college education and volleyball would be.
Despite being really late in the recruiting process I was able to get a scholarship to play for Palm Beach State College. So instead of freezing in Finland, I spent two years at the beach in Florida. I had plans to remain in Florida after my two years at Palm Beach State, but luckily I ended up also looking at some schools elsewhere in the United States. I didn't know too much about Mason before the coach asked me to come up for a visit in February, but after my first day here I knew that this was definitely the right place for me.
The biggest reason why I chose to transfer to Mason was that it simply felt like home here. I really liked the whole volleyball team and how they were very friendly and welcoming during my visit. It's really important to me to be around good people and while being so far away from home, the team is really like my family. During college, you always try to focus on volleyball and winning as many games as possible. But after graduating, you really remember the people you shared that experienced with—instead of the wins.
Another big reason why I chose Mason was its location. I love traveling, seeing new places, and meeting new people, which is also why I wanted to come to the U.S. in the first place. Even though I haven't had too much time to go exploring yet, I feel like there's a lot to see at Mason, in Fairfax, and of course in Washington D.C. Being so close to D.C. also makes it easier to hopefully travel around the country a lot more, and also helps to get convenient flights to visit Finland for the summer.
As a Student-Athlete, academics was of course also important to me when choosing my school. I'm planning on majoring in finance, and Mason has a great business school. Most of my classes from Palm Beach State transferred to Mason which really helped me a lot with setting my class schedule. Also, being so close to D.C. provides more opportunities for hopefully getting an internship and maybe one day even a real, big girl job so my mom doesn't have to worry about me just playing volleyball.
So far, my transition to Mason has been as easy as it possibly can with the grind of practicing three times a day as well as freezing in the ice baths. Everyone has been really welcoming and making sure that I've got everything I need, so I think choosing Mason was definitely the right choice for me! I'm really looking forward to the next two years as a Patriot - and especially the new volleyball season and hopefully playing in front of a big crowd at the RAC! #GoMason
