Former Golden Gopher standout Kelly Bowman, who is currently training with the U.S. National Team, wrote a diary for the U.S. National Team website. The following is the diary that she wrote on Tuesday, Jan. 23:

Hey everyone! My name is Kelly Bowman, and I’m a setter/libero/opposite from the University of Minnesota. I am born and raised in Maple Grove, Minnesota. Here in Colorado Springs I will train as a libero.

I arrived in Colorado Springs Monday afternoon last week (Jan. 15) and it already feels like home… actually it might be a little warmer here than home (which is OK with me). As soon as I arrived I met my roommate Allison Anderson, a libero from Boston College. She and I hit it off immediately. No really, we are so close right now that we tell people that we are an old married couple. We spend our free time catching up on all the “bad” TV shows. Some of our favorites include: Top Chef marathons, anything on MTV, CSI reruns… and many, many more.

When I wake up every morning and walk to the Olympic Training Center from our dorm, we have an AMAZING view of the mountains. It almost doesn’t look real. We comment on it every morning. We then go to the dining hall to eat breakfast before practice. The food and the staff in the dining hall are absolutely wonderful. I think it’s so awesome that I can eat a bunch of random stuff all the time. For instance, for lunch I had chicken, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and some pickles. I know I’m weird. It still amazes me how awesome the food is and how friendly all the athletes are.

The first day we ate in the dining hall we saw Apollo Ono. If you aren’t familiar with his name he’s a speed skater who has won multiple gold medals. We were star struck and found it hard not to stare at him as we ate our food.

Okay so now you know a little bit more about me, and where I come from. I’m having an awesome experience here and I’m learning more and more everyday.

Talk to you guys soon! Go USA!!!

Kelly Bowman