Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raider Club Scholar Athlete of the Month: Jenna Allen
September 02, 2015 | Academics
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September 2, 2015
Written by: Jordan Warren, Athletics Communications
For senior volleyball player Jenna Allen, hard work, dedication and an inner-motive fuel her desire to be great at everything she does on and off the court.
"I hold myself to a high standard and I want to do well," Allen said. "For volleyball, I love it. I love my team. There's just that pride that we have - and I have - in the team and in the university, I can't imagine myself not playing volleyball.
"For school, I enjoy learning and knowledge and I want to push myself, I want to be able to know what I'm talking about and go into my field and be able to do it, I guess it's kind of just an inner-motive."
Allen has not always been a student at Texas Tech, but when she transferred to Texas Tech in the spring of 2013 she felt at home.
"It just instantly became my home," said Allen. "I fell in love with it."
Two of Allen's former teammates, Nicole Hragyil and Emily Ehrle, encouraged her to come to Texas Tech.
"They both told me, 'If you transfer here, you're going to love the team and you're going to love these girls. That is the biggest thing I wanted, it worked out perfectly."
Through her summer semester of 2015, Allen has a 3.8 grade point average, majoring in kinesiology with a minor in psychology. She is interested in becoming a physician's assistant, which would require additional schooling when she finishes her undergraduate degree in May.
Allen has been very thankful for the Marsha Sharp Center for Student Athletes in her time at Texas Tech. She says they help tremendously with she and other student athletes' success in the classroom.
"If I need a tutor, it's that easy. I just ask them and they put it on my schedule. They look at my schedule and they tailor it to my needs, they do it all for you because they know the stresses you have as an athlete - the time commitment - that we really don't have the time."Even though they have many tools needed to help them succeed in the classroom, Allen says, for student athletes, staying on top of classwork is difficult.
"I think the hardest thing is missing class and just the time commitment. I go to class in the morning, then I go straight to practice and by the time I get home it's late.
"The professors are really awesome about it," Allen said, "and it helps so much, but it's hard missing classes and trying to catch up and not knowing what's going on and also be expected to go to practice, compete and perform at the highest level."
Allen said she is looking to make the most of her time left on the volleyball team.
"I think when I look back on it," Allen said, "this year is going to be my favorite. Our senior group is really strong. We're really good together not just on the court but as leaders, we all have the same mentality. It's a really good feeling to know someone has your back."
