WACO, Texas — It's hard enough for a high school athlete to get the chance to play in college and it's even harder when they try to graduate high school early. But, that didn't slow down Parkview's Katlynn Wright.
Wright signed her letter of intent Monday to play volleyball at Arlington Baptist University in the fall, after she graduated this month from Parkview Christian Academy a year early.
"Spiritually, they are where I'm at," Wright said. "When I toured the college, I just felt a peace and felt that was a great college for me to be at."
Wright said she had a lot of motivation, but didn't know where to focus it. Then, after looking into it, she spent all of last summer working to finish her junior-level courses at Parkview.
"I put my motivation toward that and ended up graduating early," she said.
Even if her list of accomplishments, including her athletic feats at PCA, stopped there, it would be an objectively impressive list. But, Wright also finished as valedictorian of her high school class.
"I feel like sports are important, but your education is more important," Wright said. "Because that's your future and sports is just for now."
She added that of the three, valedictorian is the feat she's most proud of because she said it was a true sign of her hard work.
There was skepticism when she decided to chase the goal of graduating early. Her mom said during Monday's ceremony that she wasn't sure about it.
"When she decided to go for it, we told her if it's really a desire of yours, we'll pray about it as a family," Katlynn's Mom Margie Wright said. "And if it's really what God's leading you to do, then go for it. And she worked hard all summer, gave up her entire summer to be able to do it and succeeded at it."
Now, trading Pacers for Patriots, Katlynn is working toward getting kills and blocks on the court while serving up a business degree and working with her family's business, Built Wright Construction.
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