She’s one of the top high school volleyball players in the state, if not the country. Cat Jamison was recruited by dozens of colleges, but when it came time to sign an NCAA Division I letter of intent, the Huntington High School senior chose Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
Ms. Jamison has been a volleyball star for the Blue Devils. She’s so good the teenager was invited to train at the US Olympic Center in Colorado Springs.
Cat Jamison is one of the Blue Devils' best players ever. (Darin Reed photo)
“I was fortunate to have been contacted by over 50 different schools in the ACC, SEC, Ivy League and the Big East,” the senior said. “However, I felt the Patriot League was the best fit for me athletically as well as academically. Bucknell is a smaller school, unlike most Division 1 programs and it has a huge sense of pride.”
Ms. Jamison had a lot to sort through and she took her time. “I have visited many schools throughout my recruitment process, but Bucknell was the only place that immediately felt like home,” she said.
President of Huntington High School’s National Honor Society chapter and co-president of the Natural Helpers club, Ms. Jamison is also the vice president of finance for the English Honor Society and a member of both the Math Honor Society and Tri-M Music Honor Society.
Ms. Jamison plays viola in the high school orchestra and sings in the chorus. She has also performed with the honors orchestra as well as Huntington’s a capella chorus. But truth be told, volleyball has occupied the majority of her time between the school team and her club season that stretches from November to July during which she travels around the country.
“I am not sure what I want to study just yet,” Ms. Jamison said. “I’m thinking of majoring in English and minoring in computer science. I wish to find a job that combines all my passions and gives me the opportunity to help others. I am also a writer and want to publish a book one day.”
Highlights over the past four years “definitely” include participating in Natural Helpers, being a member of the Chairman’s Award presentation team at the FIRST Robotics World Championships and being a key player on the Blue Devil volleyball team when it reached the playoffs for the first time in decades after going winless for many years. “My best memories are in the gym,” Ms. Jamison said.
Now that her own high school years are almost complete, Ms. Jamison has some advice to incoming Huntington freshmen. “Get involved,” she advises ninth graders. “Do what you want to do, not want you feel like you should. Whatever you do decide, put your heart into it and give it everything you got. If that doesn’t feel right, it’s not worth it and find something that is.”
The teenager is now ready to move on to the next stage of her life. “I am thankful for the experiences which have shaped me to be the person I am today,” Ms. Jamison said. “I will look back on my years in Huntington very fondly. I’m thankful to call such a unique place my home.”
