Forever Pirates -- Lauren (Babb) Schneider
Our next installment of "Forever Pirates" features former Orange Coast College women's water polo standout Laruen (Babb) Schneider, who competed with the Pirates from 2013-15.
Without a doubt, my time at Orange Coast College greatly altered my entire life. Looking back, those two years led me to where I am today and I could not be more thankful.
During my senior year of high school, I was feeling overwhelmed by the flood of questions about my future. I am already an indecisive person, so the hundreds of different school and major options were more than I could handle. I knew that I wanted to go to a private Christian college, but could not afford four years. I decided that two years at a community college could save me a lot of money and allow me time to figure out what I wanted to major in.
The idea of playing water polo at a community college crossed my mind, but I had not seriously looked into it. After my final water polo game in high school, the possibility of playing at the collegiate level became a real possibility. I received a call from Adam Lee, the women's water polo head coach at the time, asking me to consider playing for OCC. He invited me to a preview night to meet the current team and other perspective athletes. That was the night that I met the current women's water polo and women's swimming head coach, Anthony Iacopetti. Both Adam and Anthony played a crucial role in both my athletic career and my personal growth. They challenged me to always do my best, not just in the pool, but in every aspect of my life. I still keep in contact with them to this day.
I had played water polo since middle school and was on varsity for all four years of high school. My first year at OCC, I was the starting 2-meter offense. This position calls for a lot of physical contact and wrestling. Whatever happened under the water was fair game, as long as your hands were visible to the referee. My second year at OCC, I became the team captain and transitioned to the starting 2-meter defense. I loved being able to lead my team through all the victories and losses during our season. When we lost, the moment I stepped off the pool deck, I left that sorrow behind me and expected the same of my teammates. One loss does not define how the rest of your day or season should go. There was pain in the loss, but it always came with a lesson and something practical to work on. Though we did not take home any titles during my two seasons, we played with all our heart at every game. I was honored to have earned first-team, All-Orange Empire Conference selections both years I played.
Swimming, on the other hand, was not my strong suit, but when you play water polo, you also have to be a part of the swim team. Anthony is an incredible coach because he was able to see my endurance during water polo games and trained me to become a distance swimmer. As I continued to improve, so did my love for swimming, but not nearly as much as my love for water polo. The highlight of my swimming career was competing with my teammates and winning the Orange Empire Conference team title for women's swimming my sophomore year. As tradition holds, we threw the coaches into the pool in celebration. That was where my swimming career ended, but select women represented the OCC women's swim team at the California Community College Athletic Association State Swimming and Diving Championships. I supported my teammates that weekend and celebrated with them when they placed second in the state.
Aside from athletics, the largest part of attending OCC was the classes. My first semester, I took four academic courses and all other semesters I took five. I always took one course online because of the limited class time between practices. One of my first courses had a huge impact on my future. I took Public Speaking with professor Dave Odasso at the very beginning because I always hated making presentations in school, having all eyes on me, and wanted to get it out of the way. What I didn't realize would happen is that professor Odasso would teach me the art of communication and the influence it can have. That course challenged me to understand how I communicate and the impact that my words can have, something that had never really crossed my mind before.
I suddenly became intrigued with the idea of majoring in Communication and took other courses like Psychology, Sociology, Essentials of Argumentation, and Interpersonal Communication. I loved everything that those courses taught me and how they helped me grow as a person. I decided to major in Communication Studies with an emphasis in Interpersonal Communication when I transferred to Azusa Pacific University because of the courses I took at OCC.
Aside from the memories and academic clarity that OCC brought, the biggest life-changing event was meeting my husband, Hunter. While we did not meet at OCC, we met while I was studying there. Had I gone to any other college, I may not have met him and my life could have ended up very different. When we first started dating, one of my teammates stopped calling me by my last name "Babb" and started calling me by his last name "Schneider." At the time I had no idea that would one day become my last name. He was always supportive of my athletic career, as he played water polo and swam as well. Above all else, he supported me through all of life and will continue to every single day for the rest of our lives.
I loved every moment I spent at OCC and would not change a thing. The knowledge gained, future forged, and memories made are irreplaceable. I am forever a proud Pirate!
