Full-time Bakersfield College student Jourdan Moro, 19, found joy in playing for the Renegade Volleyball Women’s team, and excelling in her academics despite the obstacles she has faced.

Moro has been playing volleyball since she was in 6^th grade. She describes volleyball as a sport she can escape in when she’s feeling stressed. Moro adds that with her friends being on the team, it also provides her comfort.

Not only has she found comfort in this sport, but has found comfort and happiness at church. Moro mentioned that she has a good relationship with God, and carries this with her in all aspects of her life.

She adds that this relationship pushes her every day to be a better person and to do everything at the best of her ability, including helping other people with anything they need. Not only does her relationship with God affect her positively, but her parents are supportive of her.

One night changed Moro’s perspective on life. This was On Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival. That’s when a gunman opened fire from his Mandalay Bay hotel room, killing 58 people in the crowd. Moro explained the terrifying experience she had and how overwhelming the situation was for her and her loved ones.

“It started off as people kind of ducking because no one knew what was going on, and everyone was kind of hunched down crying and covering each other, and I remember I was crying and praying because I was trying to call my parents,” Moro said as she described her perspective of the event. Adding that everyone was frantic, but she did end up finding her parents safe after a while.

“The stage split two sides of the arena, and my parents were separated from me and my friends, so it was really terrifying not knowing where they were,” Moro said.

Moro mentioned that some people at the concert thought others were overreacting or didn’t believe anything bad would happen.

“Our whole hotel floor was under investigation, so we couldn’t go back in our hotel room for a long time,” Moro added.

She also shared that she had to stay two extra days in Vegas after the shooting because she was staying on the same hotel floor the gunman was on. Overall, Moro and her loved ones did end up safe.

She explained that when she returned to BC after the traumatic event, her professors were very understanding. During the time, Moro was very stressed about missing school work. Although she struggled with school during that hard time she has managed to excel in her college courses, and she is proud of how far she has come.

Moro also mentioned that she uses this experience as motivation to not let others dictate how her life is going to turn out. Adding, she has been more mindful of how she treats other people.

She believes that she appreciates her life much more since the event. Moro shared how important it is to treat others with respect because you never know what they are going through. She mentions her experience as an example, no one knew what was going on in her life, just like we don’t with other people around us.

Moro mentioned that she attended a support group at her church with other people who were at the festival during the shooting. She adds that a trauma specialist attended, and people were encouraged to share their stories if they wanted to.

Nonetheless, Moro has grown as a person from her experience, and she pushes herself through tough times.

“I feel like for my own benefit, I kind of mentally made that choice to push through it no matter what,” Moro said.