Selestine B. Liu-Asomua

• High expectations
• Involved
• Motivated
• Determined
• Creative

My role on a team is to bring my best, but to also help bring out the best in my teammates. In my culture there is a saying “The road to leadership is through service”, and I try to live this both on and off the court. The gifts I bring to the teams I’m on are humour, intelligence, consideration, and the ability help others stay steady and calm. I am the type of athlete who rises to challenges – I thrive under pressure take my teammates along with me. Off the court, I am inclusive and able to support and work with anyone. These qualities help me to build relationships and understand how my teammates communicate which always helps us be a more focused unit in competition.

One highlight that I am proud of was accepting the challenge of playing in my club’s U18 team as a 15 year old and starting. I was pushed mentally and physically at every practice and game. I grew as an athlete in every way and was proud that I could persevere through challenge to become a much stronger athlete in every way.

Getting MVP last year for my school team was actually very special to me. For me to perform well enough and consistently enough in the big games and moments for him and the Sport Co-Ordinator to recognize me felt like a massive accomplishment that I am proud of.

I love music. I’m involved in a choir, a jazz ensemble, and can play piano, drums, and guitar. I’ve taken music lessons since I was small and won several vocal competitions, created and produced original compositions, and generally love being creative musically. I also enjoy all water/ocean sports. Before moving to Canada in particular, my family and I spent our free time kayaking, paddle boarding, surfing and fishing. Since moving – we’ve started camping and hiking which I also love.

Brandie Wilkerson is one of my all time favorite athletes. Her physicality and drive to grow and keep adding dimensions to her game are inspiring to me, and particularly as a BIPOC athlete myself she inspires me to keep perspective on my goals, learn from challenges and defeats, and stay focused and take care of myself as a whole person to support my athletic goals. I also love watching Brook Van Sickle and her accuracy and explosiveness both on the court and in the sand on defense and offense. Robin Ah Mow – as a coach and Polynesian woman also inspires me. Her ability to create an obvious family culture with her teams that focuses on discipline, excellence, high volleyball IQ, and bringing the best out in each athlete.

Over the last 2 years, I’ve been involved in coaching and volunteer work building a volleyball community in my home town. This has been super rewarding – I’ve loved lighting the spark in others, and watching my athletes grow. I like being involved in my Student Council as well, this gives me a feeling of being effective, serving my school community, and contributing to building positive experiences and energy in the student body.

Finally, I also really enjoyed trying out for golf. It’s a difficult sport, and I’m proud of taking on the challenge. It was new for me to compete and not just play socially with my family, and I enjoyed being humbled and learning from more experienced competitors around me.

Grade 9:
Math 86%
Drama 95%
Francais 88%
ICT 89%
IHS 95%
Business 96%
ELA 92%
Health/Phys Ed 85%
Canada dans le Monde 87%
Science 80%
Art 93%

Grade 10
ELA 86%
Pre-Calc 80%
Geography 89%
Science 82%
Choir 91%
Jazz 93%
Health/Phys Ed 85%
Art 88%
Drama 87%
Francais 85%
Human Ecology 76%

It might sound simple, and it’s not one of my academic awards or best subjects, but last year I finished the Semester with an 86% in Math. While it wasn’t the top mark in the class, it was a huge accomplishment for me. Over the last 4 years I switched into French Immersion, and started in grade 7 with no French language. Math has also always been my most challenging subject, but in Jr High, I had a teacher who challenged me and really helped me to grow my mindset in Math and use strategies that help me to learn. My Math teacher in high school also supported me, and worked with me to keep improving each year, so achieving this grade last year is a reminder of that personal growth, resilience, persistence, and ability to tackle any challenge.

I would like to study either Psychology or Education because I find Psychology and how humans think and behave an interesting topic to learn about and Education because I enjoy teaching others and sharing my knowledge.

I try my hardest in my academics so I would definitely make sure to stay on top of my school work as well as study. Being in sports actually motivates me to balance my life, and being around other motivated athletes also helps keep me pushing myself both on the court, and in the classroom.