BEFORE Savi Davison’s trail of dominance in the PVL began, there was once a completely different path she was already destined to take.
Not known to many is how the 26-year-old Fil-Canadian spiker has long embodied not just beauty and brawn.
READ: Savi sets PVL pro record for most points scored in prelims play
The way PLDT’s ace spiker-slash-MVP frontrunner would describe herself, she’s quite the ‘educated girlie,’ too.
Davison's decorated DNA
Davison graduated with a degree in biochemistry and a minor in human biology at the New Mexico State University in 2021.
She was also a scholar in analytical chemistry and took the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) — the American equivalent of the Philippines’ National Medical Admission Test (NMAT) — just before the pandemic struck.
Her longtime dream to enter medical school took a pause with the rest of the world during Covid.
But to keep her academic fire burning, Davison pursued and eventually earned her Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in the midst of the pandemic at the University of Oklahoma Gene Rainbolt Graduate School of Business in 2022.
Take note, all of Davison’s academic pursuits all unfolded while playing in the US NCAA Division I.
Long live the daily grind
Yet there is no doubt for Davison that being a student was much tougher than being an athlete. What she’ll always be thankful for is how that journey taught her the grind that got her through the highs and lows of such unprecedented times.
“Biochemistry was definitely the harder one, I want to say. Late nights but it teaches you the grind. It teaches you to wake up on time, to finish on time, to say no to some people and to say yes to whatever you can and just not being spread so thin,” Davison shared with SPIN.ph.
“It's really important especially for mental health when you're being pulled kind of in all places and you don't have any time to take care of yourself.”
Her small piece of advice for anyone on the same boat as her, one must never undermine the indispensable weight of self-care.
"For those working or playing volleyball or doing whatever and if they have multiple things on their hands, I learned to just love yourself and take care of yourself,” she said.
The price of Savi's sacrifice
From shelving her lifelong dream to moving to the Philippines, Davison’s life has career-defining sacrifices written all over it.
One thing about the art of sacrifice Davison learned through the years is how some risks are worth taking over again as destiny, unpredictable as it may be, will run its own course and lead that person to where one is meant to be.
“There's been a lot of big sacrifices I've made and moving to the Philippines was a big one, but you know, sacrifices don't really feel like sacrifices when they transpire into things that you actually want to do and where you want to be.
“I wouldn't call it (playing pro ball in the Philippines) a sacrifice. I would do it again probably, but it was definitely hard.”
While Davison shared her intent to pursue chiropractic medicine once she gets the chance to go back home to Canada in the future, nothing is set in stone for what the next few years has in store for her.
May it be as one of the all-time PVL greats in seasons to come or back home in Canada reliving her lifelong dream in the medical field, there are three things Davison hopes and wants to be from here on out.
“Regardless of where it (my future) might be, I just want to say educated, successful, and happy," Davison said.
"Whether that's volleyball, whether that's back home, I'm just going to go where the wind takes me, wherever I feel good.”
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