Athlete of the Week: Gbemisola Olutogun

Gbemisola Olutogun, Engineering 4
Hometown: Calgary
Team: Pandas Volleyball

What position do you play?

I started out my first three years as an outside. Just this year because of team injuries, I was changed to a middle. It’s definitely a lot different from outside, I’m liking it because it’s fun to do different things than outside would.

What kind of learning curve did you have to overcome balancing volleyball with engineering?

I definitely made a lot of mistakes, so I learned from my mistakes. I would try different ways of studying and see what worked for me. Now I’ve figured out what works best. I wasn’t the best to go through my mistakes at the time but I’m glad I did.

Do you have any funny moments that happened to you on the court?

Well I’m pretty clumsy. I remember first year, New Year’s Classic Tournament, it was the first time I’d been back playing since I was injured. We were just peppering on the side and I went to try and hop over one of the billboard signs on the side. Instead of doing it smoothly I caught it with my foot and faceplanted. That was pretty funny, but embarrassing too.

Were there any times you thought you might have to quit?

After I injured myself. Halfway into the injury was probably the toughest, when I was watching all my teammates play club and I wasn’t able to play. But I’m glad I hung around and still supported the team.

What was it like to start playing again after the injury?

It was exciting and frustrating at the same time, exciting that I was back playing and frustrating that I wasn’t at the level I could be at right away. But I kept working at it and it came back.

What’s been the most inspiring moment to be on our volleyball team?

Just even in first year, there were a lot of fourth years and fifth years on the team. So it was inspiring just to see their work ethic and improvements, and that you can improve no matter where you are in your career.

Outside of volleyball life, what are some of your hobbies?

Well, volleyball is most of life and school is most of life, but I do really like cooking. I’m really passionate about healthy eating so I cook quite a bit on weekends when I have time.