Friday, January 8, 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: Becca Houk
School: Seattle Pacific
Sport: Track & Field
Year: Sophomore
Major: Psychology and Business Administration
Hometown: Oregon City, Ore.

Extracurricular activities: I like to hang out with my friends and family! I also like to play soccer and do water sports such as wake boarding and wake surfing. I also love to travel when I can!

Why did you choose to attend Seattle Pacific? I attended SPU because I was being recruited to run track! I also loved the city of Seattle and the school has a beautiful campus. 

What is your favorite class you have taken in college and why? I really enjoyed psychology as a vocation because I got to learn about the different fields of psychology and hear from different guest speakers. At SPU, we also are required to take Christian foundation classes! I took one of those classes and learned a lot about religion.

Who is your favorite professor you've had in college and what did you enjoy about learning from him or her? One of my favorite teachers was Mr. Dotty who taught Business Managerial Communications. I really enjoyed his teaching as he made going to class really fun and enjoyable. He would pray for us at the beginning of every class and that meant a lot to me! I genuinely felt like he cared about all his students. He was goofy in class and it made it easy for me to speak in front of the class.

Years involved in SAAC: First year.

The reason I chose to get involved in SAAC: A senior member of SAAC at my school was on my track team my freshman year and he talked highly of SAAC and recommended that I get involved!

If I could change one NCAA rule, it would be: I would change the rule where you can only compete 4 years in a sport. I would like to compete in track or soccer if I went to graduate school.

What is the most important thing you've learned from balancing the demands of athletics and academics? Something that I've learned from balancing athletics along with academics is time management and the importance of setting goals. Not having as much time for academics that the majority of students have allows me to be more aware of my free time and learning to make the most of it. It keeps me organized and on my toes. I also have learned that setting goals is important for me to getting things accomplished in the class room and on the track!

What does it mean to be a Division II student-athlete? It is something that I take pride in. I have worked hard to become a college student and a college athlete. I love being able to compete competitively at the Division II level. It brings me joy.

Current mentor(s): I would consider my coaches and my parents as mentors!

Future goals after school: A possible goal I have is to go to graduate school. I also would love to take time to travel around the world. If graduate school doesn't happen, I would love to get a good stable job and move back somewhere close to home. Eventually I would love to find a husband and have a family, but that would be later down the road!

Biggest obstacle overcame during collegiate career: Well I am only a sophomore, but a constant obstacle I had to overcome was waking up early for practice and not wanting to get up and go. Also, there were other days in the afternoon that I had to go to practice and I was too tired or wasn't in the mood to go. I had to constantly motivate myself and find the positives when I was feeling down or not wanting to go to practice.

Best advice I’d give to an incoming freshman: My advice I would give to an incoming freshman would be to roll with the punches and be ready for anything. I think it is also good to not have too many expectations when going into a new situation. As a freshman, everything is new for you and that can be hard sometimes. I think it is good to find a teammate who is nice and friendly towards you so you can ask them questions. Also, don't expect your coach to baby you. You are an adult now and responsible for yourself. Another thing is to have fun because the four years of competing at the college level will go by fast.

If I could spend the day with one person (past or present), who would it be (and why)? If I could spend one day with a person it would be Jesus! I would love to talk with him and pick his brain and just talk to him about what he experienced while being on Earth. I would love to have him give me advice and to enjoy his company! I would also love to watch him preach to a crowd.

Favorite sports team: The Portland Trail Blazers.

Favorite athlete: Probably Lamarcus Aldridge or Damian Lillard.

Most memorable sports-related moment: My most memorable sports moment was my senior year of high school when I won the Oregon 6A girls state track meet in the 100m and 200m dash! It was the best feeling and I finally felt like all my hard work had paid off. It felt good to accomplish my goals. A lot of my family was there cheering me on and they were all so proud of me! I will always hold this memory close to my heart.

One thing that people don't know about me is: I can touch my tongue to my nose!