Monday, June 13, 2016
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. Click here for more information on the function of SAAC at the NCAA level.
Name: Tom Lohmann
Sport: Soccer
School: Montana State Billings
Year: Junior
Major: Marketing/Management
Hometown: Berlin, Germany
Extracurricular activities: All kinds of sports.
Why did you choose to attend Montana State Billings? I chose MSUB in the first place because it has a great soccer program and the entire athletic department works really professionally. When I first came to Billings, I learned about the great community and the great business program which made it the right decision for me to chose MSUB.
What is your favorite class you have taken in college and why? Organizational Behavior. First of all, I had a great teacher in Dr. Don Larsen. We discussed a lot about finding the optimal way to solve problems, how to be a leader and worked on some realistic examples in where we were put into a situation a manager of a company could actually have. We also learned about how to treat people that are working for you. Those are all things that I enjoy to do and I could imagine working on problems like that on a daily basis.
Who is your favorite professor you've had in college and what did you enjoy about learning from him or her? Dr. Don Larsen. He is really passionate about being a teacher and is always concerned about his students. He understands what it means to involve the whole class in his lectures and always gives great examples, which makes it easy to follow the content of the class. He also knows a lot about sports which just made me click with him.
Years involved in SAAC: Two.
The reason I chose to get involved in SAAC: I consider myself an athlete who is not just stupidly obeying his instructor or coach. I always think about what I am doing and I want to understand why it would make sense what I do in practice. It is the same with everything around the pitch. I want to optimize everything in order to have success. I think that my mindset fits really well the expectations of a SAAC member. I care about student-athletes and I want to find ways to improve us as a program. If I can find someone who actually listens to my concerns and ideas then it would be in SAAC.
If I could change one NCAA rule, it would be: Soccer season should be all year long! Soccer is being played the whole year in every country but the U.S. If this is not getting changed, U.S. soccer will never fully catch up to other nations.
What is the most important thing you've learned from balancing the demands of athletics and academics? Time management, be passionate about what you do, don't procrastinate and enjoy every moment because it goes by really fast!
What does it mean to be a Division II student-athlete: It means you can do what you love and you are getting your school paid for it. You have to be all in for it, otherwise you fail, but its the best thing I could imagine.
Current mentors: Coach Alex Balog, Felix Horn and my dad.
Future goals after school: I want to have a functioning family. I want to be happy and satisfied with myself and my life and I do not want to feel ashamed for anything that I did in life.
Best advice I’d give to an incoming freshman: Be confident, believe in yourself and work hard for your goals. DO NOT BE HAPPY WITH WHAT YOU HAVE RIGHT NOW!
If I could spend the day with one person (past or present), who would it be (and why)? My grandfather when he was not demented and still worked for the government in Germany.
Favorite sports team: Union Berlin and Hallescher FC.
Most memorable sports-related moment: Our win against Concordia this season. We were down 2-0 at halftime and won 3-2 even though we were down one player for more than 30 minutes.