CARBON HILL – Katie Halbrook insists sports saved her.
Not by giving the Carbon Hill high School senior an athletic scholarship or individual honors, but by providing her with the ability to set goals and achieve them. And to dream.
She has dreamed big . She is about to become the first person in her family to attend college.
“It really kept me in a straight line,” she said. “Without it, I don’t think I’d be who I am today. Without volleyball, I don’t think I’d be the student I am today or the person. It really saved me, I think.”
She said the family atmosphere of the volleyball team was important.
“Those girls were my sisters,” she added. “I wish I could tell you how special my 10th and 11th-grade seasons were. I don’t know how to explain it. I felt like they were my family.”
High school sports often transcend the wins and losses as teens learn about teamwork and sacrifice while finding the inner strength to chase their dreams. That’s what Katie needed more than anything, as she navigated her high school career filled with tragedy.
Katie’s father battled lymphoma throughout her freshman year of high school before passing away during her sophomore year. Her grandfather later also passed away after his own cancer battle.
She admits she “had a hard time” dealing with those double tragedies. Though it all, Katie maintained a 4.09 GPA and played three sports – volleyball, basketball, and track. She serves as a class officer, is a member of National Honor Society and served as president of the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America club. She is also one of 52 regional winners in the Bryant-Jordan Scholarship Program’s Achievement category, which honors senior athletes who have overcome personal adversity to excel. All regional winners receive a $3,000 scholarship and could win more when statewide winners are announced at the annual Bryant-Jordan banquet Monday, April 10 in Birmingham. More than $10 million in scholarship aid has been presented by the Bryant-Jordan program since its inception in 1986.
“I am just so impressed with her, because she’s so humble,” Carbon Hill school counselor Leslie Burrough said. “To her, she’s just getting it done and doing what she needs to do and meeting her goals. I feel like the staff is looking at her like, ‘Wow, you’re doing this with a smile on your face and you’re so pleasant to be around.’”
Katie will be the first person in her family go to college when she enrolls at Bevill State Community College in the fall to study nursing. Her ultimate goal is to transfer to UAB and become a nurse practitioner. That will fulfill a promise she made to her grandfather not long before he passed away.
“Ever since I was little, I knew I was going to college – and now more than ever,” she said. “I went to see my grandfather before he passed, and I promised him I would go. I promised him I would make something of my life.”
Katie said her parents and three older siblings dropped out before reaching high school graduation. That meant there wasn’t much emphasis on education. Then, in the fifth grade, she began playing sports, starting with basketball. She later added volleyball and began throwing shot put in the high school track team.
“Until I started playing sports, I didn’t really have a goal,” she said.
Playing high school sports took her to Auburn University for team camp and Wallace State Community College in Hanceville for the regional basketball tournament. Those trips, she said, broadened her horizons and exposed her to a life outside of Walker County.
“I fell in love with it,” she said. “It helped me in a lot of ways. It helped me become a better student. It helped me become a better person. I understand how to get along with people better.
“Without starting basketball, I would have gone down the wrong path,” she added. “I learned how to be more responsible and take care of myself and make myself do what I needed to do to get here. I had to figure it out, and I’m still figuring it out every day.”
While Katie found inspiration in sports, she inspires those who know her best.
“Katie is an inspiration because of the way she accepts the responsibilities placed on her with grace and humility,” wrote Carbon Hill volleyball coach Ross Watters. He has been her coach and has also taught Katie in the classroom. “She quietly moves forward in life as an example that true strength is not bravado and pretense. True strength is putting others above yourself while continuing to be the best person you can be.”
