Brie Blume proudly displays her Falcon spirit. Photo by Lee Baker
Senior marketing major, Brie Blume, is not only an honor roll student here at the University of Montevallo, but a skilled member of the Montevallo women’s volleyball team. After helping the team secure an impressive victory against Miles College at the first home game of the season, Blume opened up about her volleyball experience at UM, as well as her post-graduation plans.
Blume began playing volleyball in the sixth grade, where she admits she tried her best, but has since realized that she was far from the being names most valuable player of the team.
“Seventh and eighth grade, I was awful,” Blume admitted, letting out a laugh. “But after that, I got my act together and I’ve been playing ever since.”
And play she does. Blume has become quite a standout player for the Falcons over the last three years. Her “entire life has been surrounded by volleyball,” and she confessed it won’t be the same once her senior season is completed. Blume has been playing the sport for a long time — close to half her life — so leaving the team will be a big change. However, Blume is sure that she will not stay away from volleyball, stating, “I’ll find a way to play still.”
Something many students can often forget is that dedicated college athletes must balance their sport with their school work. They are, after all, called “student-athletes” for a reason. Blume was honest about her experience with coming to college her freshman year and also being on the volleyball team.
At first, she was not sure how to handle the new workload along with the constant traveling to away games, but Blume came out on top with an admirable GPA – an even better one than she had in high school.
Of course, she gives the credit to volleyball. “My time management skills have grown so much from just volleyball. It’s taught me a lot,” said Blume.
Blume learned to schedule her classes around when she would be gone for days at a time for away games in order to miss as little class as possible; and, if you’re assuming she’s taking the bare minimum amount of hours to be full-time, then you’re wrong.
Blume has been taking an exceedingly full load of 19 credit hours for the last three semesters. Only in her final year of school has she decided to slow down a little, taking 12 credit hours. “I just want to cruise through my senior year and enjoy volleyball,” said Blume.
It is very clear to anyone who talks to Blume that she lives and breathes volleyball. And while she has an enviable passion for the sport, she also recognizes the importance of a future career. Like so many other college students, Blume took some time to figure out what she truly wanted to do with her degree.
Blume is currently working toward a bachelor’s degree in marketing with a minor in nutrition. She’s also considering pursuing a masters in digital marketing. Aside from volleyball, Blume said her other passion lies in nutrition. She aspires to one day work for a nutrition company and do digital marketing for them, which is a great way to combine her major and minor. Of course, Blume realizes that nothing is set in stone, especially for a college student, but she remains very excited for her future.
