Kenzie Jackson: Set Up for Success

Senior Kenzie Jackson has been playing volleyball at Judah since sixth grade. That’s a later start than most girls, but Kenzie is continuing on. The star setter and defensive specialist will play volleyball this fall at Lake Land College. 

When thinking about what she wanted out of her college experience, Kenzie said, “I wanted to continue the thing that I love. When I thought about going to college, I thought, ‘How am I going to make friends?’ And I was like, ‘Volleyball!’ It’s always been there, so I’ll do that.” Volleyball has been an important part of Kenzie’s life for a long time, influencing her in many ways. It helped her create close friendships before, and Kenzie figured it could again.

Kenzie knew that she valued volleyball enough to continue playing for as long as possible. But the right opportunity had to come along. Kenzie said, “When I didn’t know where I was going, I was a bit stressed. I wanted to play, but maybe the opportunity wasn’t going to come to me. I was talking to one coach for a long time, but it ended up dropping off. I went to visit another college and ended up not liking it that much. And then I was like, you know what? If this is what God wants me to do, it’s going to happen.” 

Kenzie put her trust in God’s plan through the college decision process. She found comfort in the fact that He had a plan for her. She told us, “I had to put my trust in Him in that way, knowing that it’s going to work out. And then the opportunity was given to me.” Kenzie let go of her control, and God worked out His plan for her. 

Lake Land College turned out to be the right fit for Kenzie. She found a great community and felt that “the girls were all so nice and so positive.” And their volleyball program has been growing the past couple of years. Kenzie noticed the improvement. She said, “I saw the amount of change within the program after the current coach had taken over. They went from having a losing record for many, many years to now having a growing program. They have winning records every year now, and the facilities are very nice. The coach really turned the program around.” Lake Land is just “a really good fit,” Kenzie said. “It’s not too far from home, so my family can come and watch if they want.” 

God provided Kenzie with the best possible option in Lake Land College. Getting to the point of being accepted to Lake Land wasn’t easy though. Kenzie had to work hard every day throughout the year. She had to make sure she got her playing time on the court to show her abilities to others. Even on her off days, Kenzie would “take time out to go and train.” She said, “I had to work hard because I started late in life for volleyball, so I had to catch up to get ahead. During the high school volleyball season, it was practice every day. And then on Saturdays, we often had tournaments, practices, or games. Currently, I practice three times a week for the Stateline Pride Volleyball Club. That’s about an hour’s drive away. On the days I don’t drive to practice, I take time out of my day to go train, whether that’s weights or cardio or something like that. And then on the weekends, I regularly travel to tournaments in places like Chicago, Iowa, Michigan, and Kentucky.”  

Over the years, Kenzie was surrounded by the people she needed to achieve her goals. At Judah, she found a close team that supported her. She found a fun yet hardworking environment where she could continue to love the sport of volleyball and keep playing. She shared, “I’m so thankful for the volleyball environment at Judah. I really haven’t had a bad experience. Every time it came around to playing again, I never dreaded it. I was always so excited to play volleyball with my friends because it was a positive environment.” 

Kenzie worked hard on and off the court. Throughout her time playing volleyball, she learned valuable lessons, including, she said, “trusting God, hard work, positive energy, loyalty, and leadership.” These are all very important things to rely on in life, and she learned them through her experiences on and off the volleyball court at Judah. They are invaluable character traits that she will take into college academics and sports.

Kenzie has grown in many ways, both in faith and in volleyball. She is learning, she said, to “truly trust in God’s plan.” She’s ready to open up a new chapter that will help her grow even more through every experience waiting for her. Kenzie is set up for a great college experience as a Laker. 

—Suzana Coulter, class of ’27