Friday, December 6, 2019

Part of a regular series.

Throughout the year, GNACsports.com uses this space to profile conference student-athletes who are members of their respective institutions’ Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). In addition to providing feedback on the student-athlete experience, conference and institutional SAAC members also offer input on the rules, regulations and policies that affect student-athletes’ lives on NCAA member institution campuses.

Name: Elyssa Rose
Sport: Volleyball
Institution: Concordia University
Year: Junior
Major: Exercise Sports Science
Hometown: Florence, Oregon

Why Did You Choose To Attend Concordia?: I chose to attend Concordia because of the community. I liked the feeling of a smaller school as well as the great exercise sports science program. The classes are great and involve a lot of discussions.

What Is Your Favorite Class You Have Taken And Why?: My favorite classes that I have taken at Concordia are Foundations of Movement or any of the athletic training courses. In Foundations of Movement, I got to learn a lot about how the body moves and how to teach different types of warmup exercises. I had the opportunity to visit an elementary school and help teach a physical education class. The athletic training classes are awesome at Concordia because I get to work in the athletic training room and I have a lot of hands-on experience.

Who Is Your Favorite Professor And What Did You Enjoy About Learning From Him Or Her?: My favorite professor is Joel Schuldheisz because all of his classes are interesting and his teaching methods are awesome. In his classes, we get to do interesting labs and extra credit work like body composition testing with the Concordia basketball teams.

Years Involved In SAAC: Three years.

The Reason You Chose To Get Involved In SAAC: During my freshman year, one of my teammates thought it would be a great committee for me to get involved with.

Most Memorable SAAC Activity To Date: Last year, we did a Christmas present giveaway to families in need. We had a gift-wrapping party and it was awesome to give back to the community.

How Do You Feel Participating In SAAC Will Help You In Life After You Graduate?: SAAC has given me new leadership skills and taught me how to stay organized and plan events, which will help me later in life.

What Does It Mean To You To Be A Division II Student-Athlete?: As a Division II student-athlete, you need to be focused and use your time wisely. It’s a lot of fun but it also gets a little crazy at times. I just need to be thankful and work hard.

What Is The Most Important Thing You’ve Learned About Balancing Athletics And Academics?: It’s important to have good time management and stay on top of everything. Do not put too much on your plate. Just have fun and stay on top of your work.

Biggest Obstacle Overcome During Your Collegiate Career: The biggest obstacle was my family moving across the country to Florida during my sophomore year. It was hard at first but they still get to stream the games and it’s always fun going home for breaks.

Favorite Thing About Competing In The GNAC: All of the awesome places we get to travel to and the great competition.

Most Memorable Sports-Related Moment: Playing Alaska at home this season. It was a crazy five-set win for us.

Current Mentor(s): Emily Kosderka.

Best Advice You’d Give To An Incoming Freshman: Go to all of your classes and have good time management.

Extracurricular Activities: Volunteering with the Special Olympics and playing basketball and volleyball.

Future Goals After Graduation: Go to graduate school and later become an athletic trainer. I hope to work with a collegiate sports team.

Favorite Sports Team: The Oregon Ducks volleyball team.

Favorite Athlete: Ronika Stone, a middle blocker for the Oregon Ducks.

One Thing People Don’t Know About You Is: I played the flute, piano and saxophone in middle school.