Friday, June 1, 2018

Part of a regular series.

Throughout the year, GNACsports.com uses this space to profile conference student-athletes, coaches, and administrators. Collectively, it is these individuals who make the GNAC one of the top NCAA Division II athletic conferences in the nation. 

Name: Ku'ulei Siolo
Conference: Great Northwest Athletic Conference
Title: Compliance and Championships Assistant
Years In Current Position: 10 Months
Hometown: Aberdeen, Washington

Colleges Attended & Degrees: Lower Columbia College (Associate of Arts), Western Oregon University (Undergraduate, Business with minors in Sports Management and Communications)

Why Did You Decide To Work In Collegiate Athletics: Sports have been a huge influencer in my life and having the opportunity to continue competing in college was life-changing. I decided that a normal everyday job wasn't going to cut it for me and that I needed excitement in my career if I was going to be happy. What's more exciting and fulfilling than helping student-athletes have the experience of their life for their four to five years in college? I want to be a person that helps create an unforgettable atmosphere for those athletes that have achieved their goals of playing a sport in college.

Who Has Influenced You The Most As A Professional - Either As An Inspiration, A Mentor, Or Philosophically: Bridget Tetteh], the associate commissioner of the GNAC, has been the most influential person in my professional career. During my time at my current position, Bridget has given me the tools I need to succeed and showed me what it takes to make a career for myself. She has opened up doors for me to learn and given me many learning opportunities/leadership roles that have given me a great foundation of experience for whatever I plan to pursue after my internship.

Biggest Obstacle Overcome As A Professional: The biggest obstacle for me has been becoming a person who is confident in the workplace as I gain more experience. It's hard when you're young and working with people who have been working in athletics for many years and still trying to maintain this idea in your head that you know what you're doing. Every day I learn something new and I gain a little confidence day by day that makes me feel like I made the right decision in working in athletics.

Favorite Part Of Your Job: Championship time is easily my favorite time of the year. I get to be outside of the office and get to watch athletes at the peak of their season.

What Does Division II Mean To You: Division II is the perfect mix of putting importance on being an elite athlete while also have an equal amount of academic expectation. All of the athletic administration at our institutions work really hard to give us the tools to perform at the highest level on the court, field, track and in the classroom.

Extracurricular Activities: Spending time with friends and family. Looking for cooler activities, but I suppose my friends and family will suffice for now.

Best Advice You Would Give To Student-Athletes: I would tell them that being a student-athlete is not something everyone, or even most people, get to experience. So take in the time with your teammates and be present in all parts of the process. Give 100 percent in your sport and 100 percent in the classroom. There will be days where you will be overwhelmed and/or undermotivated, but being able to look back and see what you accomplished with the mountain of responsibilities that you had will be so satisfying.

If You Could Spend The Day With One Person (Past Or Present), Who Would It Be: Beyonce because she is the queen and I love her.

Favorite Sports Team: Portland Trail Blazers

Favorite Athletes: Damian Lillard & Serena Williams

Most Memorable Sports-Related Moment: My whole last year at Western Oregon. We were the unluckiest team there could be. We had untimely injuries, sickness, rain, no home games and a lot of missed classes, but we made it to the GNAC Championships (which had a crazy thunderstorm, but it was fitting for how our year was going) and also traveled to Hawaii in the spring. In the end, the good outweighed the bad and it makes for good stories to tell people.