Friday, July 23, 2021

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: Sophie Franklin
Sport: Softball
Institution: Western Oregon University
Year: Freshman
Major: Social Science
Hometown: Camas, Washington

Why Did You Choose To Attend Western Oregon?: I loved the campus and the overall environment. Western Oregon is close to home, which makes me happy.

What Is Your Favorite Class You Have Taken And Why?: My favorite class was College Writing because I liked the topics we wrote about.

Who Is Your Favorite Professor And What Did You Enjoy About Learning From Him Or Her?: My favorite professor is Chris Mock because he teaches his classes well, is funny and understands that we have lives outside of school.

Years Involved In SAAC: One year.

The Reason You Chose To Get Involved In SAAC: I want to have a voice in what happens at Western Oregon, especially in our athletic department. Being in SAAC helps me to meet new people and improve the WOU athletics community.

How Do You Feel Participating In SAAC Will Help You In Life After You Graduate?: Participating in SAAC will help me have a voice in meetings or group discussions. It will help me to be more organized and prepared for anything that comes in the future.

What Does It Mean To You To Be A Division II Student-Athlete?: Being a Division II student-athlete means performing to the best of my ability both in the classroom and on the field.

What Is The Most Important Thing You’ve Learned About Balancing Athletics And Academics?: School always comes first. It’s hard to balance academics and athletics, but I always set time aside to just focus on school.

Biggest Obstacle Overcome During Your Collegiate Career: My biggest obstacle has been coming in as a freshman and being scared and overthinking everything that I do.

Favorite Thing About Competing In The GNAC: The competitiveness of all of the teams in our conference.

Most Memorable Sports-Related Moment: Hitting a walk-off home run against Washougal in high school.

If You Could Change One NCAA Rule, It Would Be: I would allow athletes to have sponsorships and profit off of their likeness. Their likeness is used to sell tickets, merchandise and more, but they don’t ever receive a penny from it.

Current Mentor(s): My biggest mentor is my dad. I am hoping to find more while at Western Oregon.

Best Advice You’d Give To An Incoming Freshman: It’s OK to be scared. Just breathe and play the way you know you can play. You'll make mistakes, but it’s how you recover that matters.

If You Could Spend The Day With One Person (Past Or Present), Who Would It Be (And Why)?: I would spend the day with Elvis Presley because he seems like an interesting person in history to interact with and his music is amazing.

Extracurricular Activities: I enjoy reading, writing and running.

Future Goals After Graduation: I want to become a firefighter and work my way up to be a fire chief.

Favorite Sports Teams: Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Favorite Athletes: Richard Sherman and Cody Bellinger.

One Thing People Don’t Know About You Is: I am very superstitious.