What do you get when you take four female athletes from the same small city and place them at UF summer camps? Four vastly different experiences.

Shannon Donahue, left, and Carrie Collins, right, both of St. Lucie County, watch teammates compete in a foul-shot competition during University of Florida basketball camp. (Eva Hibnick photo)

   While Ashley Williams is playing tennis, Karen Rodner, Carrie Collins and Shannon Donahue are preparing for basketball. Although they are all high school students in St. Lucie County, the girls have opposing outlooks on the college experience.
   This summer two St. Lucie West Centennial High School students and two John Carroll Catholic High School students are testing the waters of college life. Each, having her own unique point of view, will be affected as a person, as a student, and as an athlete. Ashley, Karen, Carrie and Shannon are all St. Lucie County students with individual positions on leaving home, first impressions, college life and athletic aptitude.
   Ashley Williams, 13, aspires to one day become a professional tennis player like her role model, Lindsay Davenport. She is preparing for this by attending a summer tennis camp at the University of Florida.
   The St. Lucie West Centennial freshman says that the drills she does at the camp sharpen her skills immensely. She can now hit nine out of every 10 balls served to her.
   "I have a more powerful serve, and my footwork is improving a little, too," she said.
   The tennis players' schedule begins with group warm ups and running. They then practice "high knees" and "kick feet" before splitting into three subsections for personalized training.
   "There are three courts: Southwest (for drills), Flavet and Ring," Ashley said. "One is for games and the other is for matches."
This is the second time that Ashley has attended the four-week camp. Despite being 228 miles away from home, she feels comfortable at UF. The 2,000-acre campus is nearly half the size of her 4,600-acre home St. Lucie West. This fact alone can be overwhelming, yet Ashley does not seem to mind.
   While UF would be a "nice" place to go to college, Ashley hopes to play for UCLA before turning pro.
   Although Ashley has never seen Lindsay Davenport play, if she keeps practicing she could possibly see her face to face one day on the court.
   Amid the fury of lady's basketball players one can find Karen Rodner. The 17-year-old St. Lucie West Centennial junior is attending a three-day basketball camp in an attempt to quicken her pace and perfect her rebounds.
This is Karen's first visit to the University of Florida camp. Coming from the same smaller city, she was overwhelmed at the size of the campus.
   "It's huge. I was scared at first that I'd get lost, but the coaches walk everywhere with us," she said.
   Karen believes she is greatly improving and will be a more valuable forward to the junior varsity Lady Eagles. She is getting to the basket faster and is shooting more consistently.
   "I have better free throws than when I first started playing," she said.
   Basketball life begins in the O'Connell Center, where the girls stretch and divide themselves into teams that practice at various stations. This gives Karen and her "WNBA" teammates a chance to hone their skills through posting up, dribbling and defense drills. Karen applies these techniques during games just as she plans to do at home.
   Karen hopes to attend a community college and then transfer to a university. She would like to either stay in state or move to the West Coast where she plans to play college ball while studying to be a veterinarian.
   Next I found Carrie Collins and Shannon Donahue sitting on the cool floor of the court watching their older teammates compete in a foul shot competition. The two jocular incoming freshmen seemed more uneasy than their older counterparts. However they were smiling and laughing throughout the entire interview.
   "This is an awesome facility. It is the nicest gym I've ever been in," power forward Carrie Collins said.
   The John Carroll Catholic High School freshman spoke of her impressions of the UF campus. She thinks the cafeteria has delicious food and the dorms are small but livable for three days.
   Preparing to attend either UF or UNC, Carrie wants to play college basketball while continuing to swim.
   Carrie's third year at the UF basketball camp is marked by significant personal improvement. She has strengthened her skills of dribbling, ball handling, posting up, and boxing out. Planning to practice the ball handling and defense drills back at home, Carrie knows she will become a junior varsity if not a varsity Lady Ram.
   "All of the coaches are really nice and they just help you along," said John Carroll Catholic High School freshman teammate Shannon Donahue.
   This is Shannon's first time to the UF camp, and although excited, she was a bit apprehensive. Because she was fairly inexperienced, she strongly depended on her friends and coaches.
   "I got lost the first day. It was a really big crowd and I got nervous," Shannon said.
   Regardless of her unfamiliarity with the campus, Shannon would not mind going to UF. Her dream is to play college basketball while either attending UF or FAU.
   Shannon and her friends have noticed that the camp has been especially beneficial to her. Although her friends think she has improved in all areas, Shannon feels she has best developed defense drills and boxing out. She definitely wants to return to JCCHS with her ball handling and defense skills.
   Despite their differences in opinion, all four girls will return home to St. Lucie County with stories to tell. The chance to attend UF's summer athletic camps has given them all a leg up on the competition and a small taste of college life - which is something not many other St. Lucie County students will have.