By Taylor Lupetti (@tayclupetti):
For most international student-athletes, the trip to San Jose marks the first time away from home. When it comes to redshirt freshman middle blocker Laura Parts, living away from her family was nothing new.
Parts was raised in Parnu, Estonia, a small town just over 70 miles away from the capital, Tallin. In order to play volleyball and get a good high school education, Parts earned her first scholarship and moved to Tallin to attend Audentes Sports School.
“I moved out of my home when I was 16,” Parts said. “I made it to our best women’s club team and became more experienced, we won all of our tournaments which was a great experience for me.”
The time Parts spent in Tallins gave her an away-from-home experience, but when she came to San Jose, she found what she was really looking for.
“I fell in love with this program,” Parts said. “I was trying to come here and get more independent and that was the main reason. To start doing my own thing.”
Before graduating from Audentes in 2016, Parts was sought after by many universities in the U.S. After seeing her play on tape and in person, SJSU head coach Jolene Shepardson and associate head coach Aaron Shepardson knew they wanted her. In an effort to stand out from other schools, the Shepardsons did all they could to make Parts feel welcome.
“Laura seemed pretty excited to be recruited by a lot of schools so I started to Skype with her once a week,” Jolene said. “I think that helped the relationship part of it, at least that’s what she said helped her decide to come here. I think this city and the school attracted her as well.”
Besides the five Brazilians on the team, Parts is the only other international player. From Estonia, Parts brought a new culture to the team that it hadn’t experienced before—especially for Parts’ roommate and close friend sophomore setter Kaitlynn Zdroik.
“I had never heard of Estonia,” Zdroik said. “I knew it was somewhere in Europe, but once I met Laura it was an instant connection and she made it (Estonia) feel bigger, but smaller because I know somebody from Europe now.”
The culture exchange has been mutual between Parts and her teammates.
While she has taught the players about the traditions and foods of Estonia, her friends have taught her about American pastimes as well.
“Sundays are now for football,” “I have to be a Packer fan because Kaitlynn is,” Parts said. “I had never heard of football here so she has taught me a lot and now I know all about the Packers.”
In her first season with SJSU, Parts was injured and ended up redshirting for the season. Healthy and ready to notch a full college season in her resume, Parts is set out to prove that she is as good as her coaches thought she was back when they first recruited her.
“When she got hurt, it was hard but she persevered and was tough through it,” Jolene said. “Now she’s trying to come back and get back in her rhythm after taking a whole year off so that’s the hard for anybody to come back and play the same level that they were playing.”
With her family over 5,500 miles away in Estonia, Parts has not been home in almost a year. As the 2017 season nears it’s end, Parts is looking forward to returning home for Christmas and reuniting with her family.