Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda | The “Swiss Army Knife” Mindset

On this episode of the Intangible Podcast, Chris Spencer sits down with Vanderbilt basketball standout Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda to unpack the mindset, resilience, and intangibles behind her journey from Sioux Falls to the SEC.

Ndjakalenga’s story is one every athlete should hear. From growing up in a sports-driven family with roots in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to becoming South Dakota Player of the Year, to competing at the highest level of college basketball at Texas and Vanderbilt, her path has been built on discipline, adaptability, and relentless work ethic. 

She describes herself as a “Swiss Army knife” player—someone willing to do whatever the team needs to win. That mentality helped her navigate the ups and downs of college athletics, including moments when she barely saw the court and had to trust the process. Through faith, family support, and a commitment to the little things, she built a foundation strong enough to carry her through those difficult seasons. 

For young athletes chasing big dreams, Ndjakalenga shares powerful lessons about patience, staying ready for opportunities, and why focusing on development—not attention—is the key to long-term success. She also opens up about the realities of the transfer portal, NIL decisions, and why finding the right fit matters more than chasing money.

This conversation is packed with wisdom on leadership, resilience, and the mindset it takes to succeed both on and off the court.

If you’re an athlete, parent, or coach trying to understand what truly separates great competitors, this episode is full of the intangibles that drive peak performance.

Subscribe for more conversations with elite athletes uncovering the mindset and habits behind success.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Jacquelinga, I'm sorry. I this is your name is uh very unique, and um and I've been practicing all day, and I still screwed it up. But we're so excited to have you here on the Intangible Podcast. Um just looking at you know your career, where you're from, you're growing up in Sioux Fall. Um uh you move and you go on to become an unbelievable player at Texas, you know, you're all American in high school. Um, you know, not only that, you you deem yourself as a Swiss army knife.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

You know, um so so as you start to think about, you know, your upbringing and things like that as we get the show going, those are the things that we want to dive into. And so welcome to the tangible podcast. Really excited to have you here.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Thank you, Chris, for having me here.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Yeah. Well, we've kind of got started a little early. We started talking about some things that um is very relatable to you and what you're doing in your in your major and talking about these different personality pieces. And right away I got challenged on some of my things that we're working on. Not necessarily a challenge, but just a lot of questions. And so it's I'm already really impressed with with you and who you are. And um, but before we really jump into all of those things, I is there a nickname for you?

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Um, I I prefer to be called Jackalinga. I know it's really difficult to say, but I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Jackalinga. I you know, I mean I have a daughter, her name is Madison, and and I don't like people calling her Maddie. So I get that. And I have a son, Max Will. Like we're not calling a Max, calling a Maxwell. So I get that. So good for you for having that. Not doing that.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

My mom was the same way, so that's why I just like my name. It has meaning to it, so that's if it if it didn't really, if it was just another name, maybe I would shorten it. But yeah, perfect.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

So we're gonna start there. Give me the meaning behind your name.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

Uh, my name means a gift of luck. It comes from my mom's tribal language. She's um from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and so you know, that's why I like it's like a blessing on me when people say my name. Yeah, okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

All right. Well, I'm gonna try to keep saying it throughout. So I believe in you. Yes, yes. All right. Um, so you know, you grew up in Sioux Falls, and you know, take me through your early childhood and and how you grew up. You have siblings, and you know, with your mom being an amazing basketball player herself in her own right, uh, what was that like growing up in a house like that?

SPEAKER_00 2:31

My my upbringing was pretty awesome. Um, I'm very family oriented. So um just growing up, I I was born in Nebraska, and then from Nebraska we moved to uh Sioux Falls. Uh when I first heard that we were moving to Sioux Falls, I was a little bit confused because I I didn't think Sioux Falls was a city. But now I've I've grown appreciation for Sioux Falls. Um and um yeah, I could say I call it my home as well. Um I played a lot of sports. My older sister, she uh ran a little track in college and she also played a little basketball. She was really fast, she was really good at running. And um from that, um my mom would take my sister to the YMCA and me and my younger, my younger brother, Betsy, we would just be, you know, just messing around, dribbling basketball, shooting hoops while my sister was training. And um then when I got a little older, I actually started out with AU track. Um, you know, because again, my sister, she she was running track in high school.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

And you were you were chasing her.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Yeah. Um I I I wouldn't really say that because again, uh I was I was really bad at first. It was just a way to keep us like to to give us something to do. Cause again, like I said, my mom was a basketball athlete. So long story short, I started with a track. I got into basketball um in like second grade. And um, you know, that one also again, I wasn't really the best. I was really really average or below average, but it was something fun to do. Yeah. Um, and then I got into volleyball.

SPEAKER_01 4:07

How do you balance that and making that decision? Because I have a daughter, she's playing volleyball and she's, you know, but she also is basketball and she's she likes both, but if you had to ask her right now, she'll chill tell you she's a volleyball player. And so, like, you know, what was that like for you trying to decide if you're gonna, you know, when to make that change and and and how to how do I commit to this one sport, but I still really like this other sport.

SPEAKER_00 4:30

I didn't really consider basketball as something I could do past high school until COVID happened and I started training. Interesting. So I would say, and it's a little bit harder in this day and age because like you got middle school that we can dunk now, you got like the the field has definitely um evolved and become really specific. Yeah. Um, but I still emphasize an importance on um having like multiple trades, if you will. Luckily, my high school, my high school coaches, they were all very understanding. Um, obviously, like junior year, I'm more so leaning towards basketball because I'm building out into a you know more of like a stronger structure. Yeah. I'm not saying volume. There's no structure, you know, there's no physical appearance to any, but I'm I'm honing in on my basketball skills. So I can definitely see where juggling everything starts to become difficult. And for that, I just say, like, if there's one she's really leaning towards right now, you know, focus more of your extracurricular time towards that. Fair enough. But like, I still think like, you know, you you learn a lot of life lessons when you have multiple sports that you're involved in.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

So I agree with that.

SPEAKER_00 5:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

So you know, you you become a junior, well, you say COVID. Yeah, you know, why how did COVID and why did COVID, you know, you know, help you make that mind switch and say, hey, this, I'm really gonna start focusing on basketball.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

Um, so at the time I was a sophomore, it was like my towards the spring of my sophomore year. Um, you know, everything shuts down, but luckily my AU program I was a part of, All I W Attack, another state we gotta carry out. But um, yeah, so like with All I W Attack, we were still able to practice and do workouts. Obviously, we had to quarantine and respect, you know, those um quarantine regulating laws. Um, but we were still working out and I was still doing extra stuff. Like I would find unique ways of still working out. Um, my high school coach, he had a little because shutdown happened in South Dakota around the time we were supposed to go to the state tournament, like a week before. So, you know, we're all bummed. We're all like, oh, like what yeah, that was a tough time.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

Yeah, it was a tough time for you know, high school and and freshmen going into college. Yeah, it's it's it was tough. Parents who had to now homeschool kids.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

Yes, exactly. So you you get it, like there was a lot of setbacks, but I would just say, like, having um I would say a decrease in distraction because quarantine, you know, you're you're locked in. And um, again, like I was playing AU basketball, I wasn't really doing AU volleyball anymore. So I was like, all right, I can just lock in. That was when me, my my two younger brothers, um, we were all just working out, you know. If we weren't working out, we're just chilling. So that's really how we got through quarantine. It was it was a little bit boring, but at the same time, you know, it was good to really lock into what I what I wanted to do.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Yeah, but you know, in that time that you you you got a chance to hone in on your basketball skills, and then the time that you get through COVID and you go into your junior year and you guys go on and win a state championship. Yes, you know, so so on top of all of that, you go on and become player of the year, 2022.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

Yeah, uh South Dakota Gameway Player of the Year.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

How awesome was that?

SPEAKER_00 8:03

Uh it was pretty cool. Um, you know, the accolades was nice. I did enjoy the free gear.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

But also I do miss my free gear from the NFL days, so I get I get that.

SPEAKER_00 8:15

Yeah, nine, yeah, but um it was cool. Um, it was nice to be recognized. Um, but also I just kept my head down and kept pushing because I mean um when you get to college, everybody's everybody's good.

SPEAKER_01 8:30

Everybody's good.

SPEAKER_00 8:31

Everybody's a Gatorade player of the year, everybody's a player of the year. Um, so yeah, it was nice in the moment. And then I was like, okay, well summer workouts.

SPEAKER_01 8:40

Yeah, I always say, you know, you get to college, you go from high school, being, you know, the hero, and then you get to college and you go right back to being a zero. And so it's very humbling. Yeah, it's very humbling. Yeah, exactly. Now we kind of started a show a little bit about talking about you being a you know a Swiss armor knife. That's your that's your thing. Um, you know, where did that versatility come from?

SPEAKER_00 9:00

Uh again, I think it's just because I was a multi-sport athlete, so I developed skills in uh different areas. Um, I also found ways because my AAU squad was also good along with my high school squad. So just finding ways to score when everybody's good, you know? Um so yeah, I would say I would just focus on the little things. Um when I would train, I would still be working on scoring. But if there were ways like, oh, I can be more physical, I can help out on defense, use my athleticism. I just looked at it like I'm a small puzzle piece to a big jigsaw puzzle. So I would say, yeah, that's sort of how I became the Swiss Army now.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

Well, you go on, you you know, as you say, you the you know um uh Sioux player of the year, and then you you get recruited by Texas. You end up at the University of Texas, you know, what was that transition like going from from high school and siou to to Texas?

SPEAKER_00 9:58

Yeah, I would say going from Sioux Falls to Texas, well, Austin is just its own, like, ooh, like it's like it's like going from like I don't know, down south to New York City. Like there's it's loud a little bit. But um, yeah, so the trend the cultural shock was what hit me the hardest because I had I had played against playing in the UIBL circuit, you play against the best best, you know. Um, you see really good competition. So I knew basketball-wise, even if some of those women were going to be, you know, like better than me, I knew one thing's for certain, I'm gonna work hard and I'm gonna let them let the work go for me. But like outside of that, I always say like the summer going into um into the my freshman year was just really overwhelming.

SPEAKER_01 10:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

Because there was a lot more people and seeing a lot of different, seeing a lot of different cultures and all that, that wasn't the problem. It was just the fact that like there was always noise. Like, and when you walk outside, construction, cars, something.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

Like you wasn't used to that.

SPEAKER_00 11:05

I wasn't used to that. And so I would say also too the lack of a car. So I was forced to really, really just become a team player, rely on others and and just somehow, yeah, rely on my teammates for sure. I was hanging out with them a lot because like if it wasn't for them, I was gonna, I was definitely gonna be lost. But yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

Was there any moment where you decided you were you were thinking about, all right, I just want to go back home?

SPEAKER_00 11:33

Oh yes. It was like the so you know, after you get past the culture shock and things start to settle in, luckily, like after the month, we get a we get a little bit of time off before the second session. When I went home, I was like, I was like, mom, I don't want to go back, please.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

Don't make me don't make me which is funny because you know, I it's it's my life.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

I gotta, I gotta go back. But yeah, there was times when I wanted, and even like during the during the season too, because again, I'm I'm in Sioux Falls, and it wasn't even like I I just I just miss my family because again, I I'm a family person. So yeah, that's really there were times definitely when I was homesick. Sometimes still happens, but I know how to cope with it now.

SPEAKER_01 12:19

So you get settled in, you stay. Yeah, you you you don't you don't get too homesick and leave. And um, and I'm sure your mom was probably a big piece of saying, no, you go you're getting out of here no matter what you think, you're getting out of here. Um you go on, you play over 103 games at the University of Texas, and um and again, you become well known for you can score when you when you needed to, when you wanted to score, and then you can, you know, you can be the physical player and and you were known for those things there at um Texas. You know, how was the you know, how was the, you know, how did you develop your leadership and your your composure through those ups and downs as you're you know going you know from a freshman to a sophomore, you know, what was that mindset of uh was it was it a a mindset of, hey, I want to be this type of leader, or was it just you just gradually kind of grew into who you've become?

SPEAKER_00 13:13

Yeah, um my time at Texas, I wouldn't consider myself a leader. I would consider myself more of like a team player, if you will, just because of the fact that um I wasn't the first, second, or third option. So I had to really don't sell yourself short, man, because that's that's leadership.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Being a team player is that's leading by example. Those are that's those are leadership skills.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

I appreciate that. But yeah, going from freshman to sophomore year, I I really just kept my head down, no matter the circumstance. Because there was games where I didn't even go in, or if I went in, it was for like two or three minutes. And I would be taught, I would be the same way to my mom, like, bro, like I'm I'm seeing things happen and I can't even do anything about it. But um, again, just like that work ethic I built when I was younger, just you know, focused on what I'm good at, focus on what I can improve, and just keep keep doing the little things. And so gradually that helped me out. Um, especially junior year going to the final four. So it all paid off.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

How hard is it to sit with that discomfort and not knowing that you can contribute, you know, feeling like you can contribute, but not getting an opportunity. I think it's important for young athletes to to hear, to know that you you have those those times, but you know, since one was going through that, how did you manage that?

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Right. Um, it was extremely difficult. And I I lost myself a couple of times. I'm not even gonna lie to you. Um, and then that's just life, you know? You're gonna go through some times where you feel like you're not the person you you thought you were gonna be. Um, but the things that helped out was having a a belief system, um, trusting in God, and also having that one or two people who can remind you. It was my family. No matter if I was playing zero minutes or if I was starting in the game, they were always gonna be there encouraging me. And those things, those are the reasons why I stuck with it. You know? Um, yes, I I transferred or whatever, but I would say if it wasn't for last year, I I I learned a lot. I learned a lot and I'm glad I went through it. So for the young athletes out there, you might feel like you're being disrespected. Stick with it. Keep keep putting in the work even when no cameras, no highlight reels are are are happening for you. I promise you, God will help you out.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

What kind of foundation did you you've now coming to the other side of it?

SPEAKER_00 15:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

How strong is your foundation now than it was when it was in those trying times?

SPEAKER_00 15:40

Oh, it was extremely it it it's it's strong. Like I'm talking about you're gonna have to put a grenade in there if you wanted to break. But I really do think it came with like just learning. I I think going through a multiple hard times, you know, it's um that that really helped out. And I will say again, the work that I put in in order for those big moments. So when those big moments happened, I wasn't even faced. I was like, this is supposed to happen. I know it's supposed to happen. Um, but yeah, it was a lot of the minute school work that I put put in when nobody was really watching me.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. I like to do this thing called two minute. It's like this two minute going into halftime in football. And so it's just these rapid fire questions that I'm gonna throw out to you, and whatever comes to mind, you just say. All right, you ready for this? I'm ready. All right. Um, what is your what is the favorite arena that you've ever played in?

SPEAKER_00 16:33

Moody.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

Moody. Yeah. Okay. Tell me about Moody really quickly.

SPEAKER_00 16:38

Like, I went to UConn, we played at UConn's place, we played at South Carolina's place, but the feeling that Moody had, like, it made other teams like second guess how they were playing. Because it was big, and like when you really got fans going in there, it was just awesome. Um, so yeah, I would say Moody Center. All right, perfect.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

I like that. All right, best player that you ever matched up against.

SPEAKER_00 17:04

Mashed up against there's a lot of amazing players. Most recently, when we joined the SEC, um, I would say Welcome, by the way. Thank you. I would say um the one that that just stood out to me most was Joyce Edwards from South Carolina. Because like she's a freshman, but the thing she was doing, like, it would me firstly, it took me a couple years to get some of that. And the fact that she was physical, the fact that she has room to grow, the fact that she's aggressive, like doubt, like it was just amazing to play against her because I could see she doesn't have a ceiling. Her, and again, South Carolina, they have an amazing squad. I'm not discrediting anybody in the SEC, you know, there's amazing players in there. I would just say, yeah, playing playing against Joyce Edwards, I was like, yeah. Anytime she came in, I was like, either she she can do everything. Like, I can't just guard the post because she's gonna go on the perimeter. So yeah, her, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

That's that's awesome. All right, your go-to pregame height song, which is one of my favorite potions.

SPEAKER_00 18:07

Oh, yeah. Okay, so it always fluctuates, but the one that helped me get through last season was um, it's by Kodak Black. Um, I forgot the title of it, but it was oh, Tunnel Vision.

SPEAKER_01 18:20

You can you can rap, you can give me a little bit of give me some lyrics.

SPEAKER_00 18:23

No, I'm good, but it's tunnel vision. It's tunnel vision, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:28

All right, the um the most underrated on the most underrated skill of yours.

SPEAKER_00 18:35

My shooting ability. Ah, okay. Yes, all right, you go it's coming back, don't worry. You're gonna have to see me out there.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

All right. Uh, who was your favorite WNBA player that you grew up watching?

SPEAKER_00 18:47

Candice Parker. I I still have a big sticker of her in my downstairs in the basement back when she played with the Sparks. Yeah, she was pretty cool player because she looked like me and she was just athletic and cool person to watch.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

She's she's uh she was phenomenal.

SPEAKER_00 19:02

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:02

Doing a great job right now.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

Yes, and then I noticed two minutes, but also myomorph. But then when COVID happened and everything got shut down, but she was phenomenal on Minnesota. Yeah, she was really good too.

SPEAKER_01 19:15

All right, all right. Um, one word to describe your playing style.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

It's gonna be hard.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

Um you get to know yourself right now.

SPEAKER_00 19:25

I know. I always say unicorn because like it just whatever is needed, it's unique, it's it's innovative. I like that. Maybe innovative is a better word.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

I like that. I like that. All right, last one for you. Um, first thing you want fans here at Vanderbilt to know about you.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

That I'm ready to work and I can't wait to see everybody out there. I really do. Uh with Coach Ralph and amazing, you know, my amazing teammates, we're gonna do some special things. So I just can't wait to play for y'all and to have that home memorial home crowd feeling. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

All right, awesome, awesome. Thank you for those. That's that was fantastic. Um, all right, now as a as a veteran player, you've had to fit into a lot of different roles, and now that you've made that transition from Texas to um to here in Vanderbilt, um, you know, what what are the the leadership things that you'll be able to bring over here to really bring to Vanderbilt that really is going to help this team excel?

SPEAKER_00 20:27

Um, well, again, experience. I'm one of the older people on the team now. Um and winning experience at that. I know how it feels, I know how it how it looks like, how it sounds like to be in a winning environment and to be part of a winning culture. Um so I would say carrying over that. Um and then also carrying over my understanding that it takes more than five to win. Um I think that's one big thing that um definitely is still becoming a um more of an understanding for everybody on the team, but I want everybody to feel to feel needed on the team because they are they are needed. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

Yeah, how do you communicate that? You know, what's your communication style? Um yeah, yeah that that that's gonna help you, that's gonna help you, you know, really get to know each one of your teammates and know how to lean in and push them in different ways.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

I say my communication style, it it it depends on the person. How I talk to somebody who's more experienced or someone like Michaela Blakes who knows how to score, I'm gonna talk to them a little bit more strictly versus somebody who's younger and newer to the experience. Um, like Ava Black, I might I might break it down for her, pull her to the side, be like, hey, this is what you could change. So it changes depending on um the person and experience. But there is a time and a place. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

That's been a good leader right there. Yeah. I like that. I like that. Um when you make a transition like coming from Texas at Vanderbilt, you know, what what are you hoping to accomplish? Here in this environment that you you didn't accomplish in that environment.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

I would say what's putting me away is a new experience. Um I just felt like I I needed a different atmosphere to grow in. There's nothing wrong with that. Um again, there were there's pros and cons. And um being at Texas, like I don't regret anything, but I would say some things is my role there was is just a little different than my role is gonna be over here. Yeah, uh I'm gonna be more outspoken over here. I'm gonna have a new type of confidence. I believe that my coaches have all the all the confidence in me. The goal is still the same, you know, win championships and leave a better leader. My experiences and um stepping into a different type of role at Vanderbilt are some of the ways that I don't think I would have had those opportunities at uh Texas.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

Sometimes you sometimes just need a little change. Yeah. You know, sometimes you need a shake up and uh which did kind of spark some some new confidence. And so as you think about young athletes who are, you know, or or older athletes who are making that transition, you know, is there is there any any mouse traps or is there any pitfalls that you can think of that that you almost fell into because of the the shiny lights? A lot going on in that in that portal, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_00 23:17

Yeah, I would say the first thing when I entered the portal again, this new NIL process of people being attracted to money. One goal that my mom had taught me is the money's always gonna come no matter what you do. Always gonna be there. Yeah, no matter what you do. Um, it's really about how you fit within the program. Falling into the trap of what place is paying me the most is something that can stray people from a better experience than just going somewhere for money. Yeah. Because if people are looking at you as a dollar sign, they're also not gonna care when when everything hits the fan, when you get injured. Put your head down. You're still getting a free education. You're still getting, you're still getting a place to sleep, you're still having all the resources, the food, the nutrition. You might not be paid as much as some other people, but if you start comparing yourself, you know, that's another, that's another downfall, pitfall.

SPEAKER_01 24:13

It sounds like in your transition that you had become very self-aware of who you were as you start to navigate those to make sure that you were in a good landing spot.

SPEAKER_00 24:22

I thought high school recruiting was very overwhelming and stressful, but wanting a really good fit with college recruiting is even more stressful because now you you know some of the dirt or whatever you want to call it on some of the colleges. So speed dating. Yeah, speed it's speed dating, it's really is speed dating. So just pulling in the concrete information and knowing, oh, this is how this coach might coach and react. Oh, I've seen how this coach treats some of because again, the nice part is I have built friendships within other colleges. So I do know a little bit. So when I did uh, you know, transfer, I'm like, this is the best fit because one, they see me in high school, they know all of my abilities and how I've grown, so they're going to trust me. And two, um, based off of what other people have said about this coaching staff, I know it's an environment I want to be in.

SPEAKER_01 25:18

Fascinating for me because, you know, you're one of the first athletes that I've you know spoken with who's really gone through that whole transition piece, and and you know, our show is normally with athletes who make that transition out. And so transition is not is not easy, you know, no matter when you're doing it, and then just just hearing your story in that process and having more of those foundational pieces that that um help you make those transitions easier that I didn't have or other guys didn't have when they were making those transitions, it's just awesome to hear that you know, that you're putting skill, you have skills and you have tools in your toolboxes help you that help you navigate these different spaces. You know, so um now you're transitioning not only just in the sports, you're transitioning to a new program, you know, uh a new academic program. How have you, you know, really fit into that program and start to balance, you know, what does that look like for you? Because um sounds like that is a huge focus of yours as well.

SPEAKER_00 26:15

So uh my master's program is within medicine, health, and society. Um it's usually like for people on a pre-med track, but I'm taking the track because one, I got a year of eligibility, but also two, um, it'll help me understand sort of like the social determinants of health, especially within my psychology background, how that relates to sports psychology, which is what I plan on, you know, getting into. Um, but one thing about grad school that no one can really emphasize enough is how much work, how much work is it? Like I was one to really cruise by, like I was getting good grades in high school and still taking really good clock courses. And you know, Texas education is still hard, but because it's a public university, you know, you're gonna have professors who are really focused on the research. So some of them might grade a little bit easier, you know, they may understand you. Hey, that's the that's the athlete on campus. We know that. Well, Vanderbilt is more of a prestigious, yeah, prestigious private university. So they don't see athletes. Yeah, they don't really see athletes. If I was gonna um get a certificate or not, I would still be going to Vanderbilt. So I, you know, I still need to experience how it's like to do real work. And the one thing that helped with that, which carried over from Texas, was my last year or my previous year at Texas, um that last semester was really hard because again, SEC were traveling all the time, March Malinists were traveling all the time. So finding ways to manage my work, I transferred that over to this. I'm not saying that it got easier because I learned how to manage my work, but it takes off a load when I know what the plan is to do the work.

SPEAKER_01 28:00

So yeah, no, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

Yeah, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 28:03

Well, when you think about your career and where you are, what are those fewer intangibles that has made you who you are, but has given you the foundation that you know that's gonna help you transition into life out of the sports?

SPEAKER_00 28:16

One of the intangibles is building a community, um, knowing that you can't do it alone. Um, so you know, again, when when you are, when, when you are by yourself, who's there with you, checking up on you? Um I would also say another intangible that I've built is learning to put in the work. Like, yes, I've built myself a little bit of a repertoire, but still understanding like you're not gonna outcompete me. Like, I'm going to do my best every day, and I'm gonna make sure that you know, whatever I do is it's my 100% effort. Because what's the point if I'm not giving 100% effort, you know? Um and then another intangible I've built is um I would say focusing on the little things that may not that may make a big difference, such as sleep, eating right, and um taking care of my mental.

SPEAKER_01 29:19

This has been fantastic to get to know you. Welcome to Nashville. We're really excited to have you here. And you know, I just it's it just always amazes me when I get a chance to sit down and have a conversation with an athlete who who has gone through the ups and downs and then kind of gotten to a side where they know who they are, um, but also know how to feed back in others. And it sounds like you're you're here here in Nashville and you're ready to work, and you're also ready to really pour into your teammates and and the experiences that you've carried over from your previous place that you get to leave this place better than you found it. And so really excited to track you and watch you this year. But be there, room you're all and cheer you all. So uh appreciate you joining Tangible Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 29:57

Thank you, Chris.

SPEAKER_01 29:58

Awesome, awesome.