Friday, April 8, 2022

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: Mason Machado
Sport: Men’s Basketball
Institution: Northwest Nazarene University
Year: Sophomore
Major: Business Management
Hometown: Corona, CA

Why Did You Choose To Attend NNU?: I absolutely loved the community and how friendly the teachers and students were.

What Is Your Favorite College Class And Why?: Public speaking, because taking the class helped me get over my fear of it.

Who Is Your Favorite Professor?: Dr. Mollie Sweet. She believed in me and helped me do well in her class.

What Have You Learned From Needing To Balance Athletics And Academics?: It’s much harder than I initially anticipated. It’s like a full-time job on top of a full-time job.

What Is The Biggest Obstacle You Have Overcome During Your Collegiate Career?: Still keeping up with my classes when I had to be in quarantine.

What Does It Mean To You To Be A Division II Student-Athlete?: It is very special. I know only a low percentage of high school athletes make it to play at the collegiate level.

What Are Your Future Goals After Graduating?: I want to become a real estate investor and flip houses.

What Advice Would You Have For An Incoming Freshman?: My best advice would be to make as many friends as possible. It comes in handy when forming study groups for classes and for fun extracurricular activities.

What’s Your Favorite Thing About Being Part Of The GNAC?: How competitive it is.

What’s Your Favorite Sports Memory?: Beating (Division I) Portland State last season.

Favorite Sports Team: Los Angeles Lakers

Extracurricular Activities: I love collecting sneakers.

What’s Something People Don’t Know About You?: My favorite food is a PB&J.