I thought I wanted the big, stereotypical “movie” college.
I wasn’t thinking academically about what I needed. About a week into Ohio University I knew I wasn’t staying.
My parents came to Gustavus Homecoming. My mom called me that night and said, ‘You’re going to be a Gustie.” She was right. The minute I set foot on campus, I felt comfortable. I could do athletics—gymnastics and track. That’s what I needed to feel comfortable.
I majored in History; I adored the department. I got my master’s in history at North Dakota State University, in early modern European Elizabethan England. I thought I would be a professor. When I was working on my master’s thesis, I also coached track. I met Justin [DeGrood ’07], who was coaching basketball, at a wedding of a fellow Gustie. [Gustavus athletic director] Tom Brown actually introduced us! Justin joined Gustavus Men’s Basketball. I joined the Gymnastics coaching staff.
The NCAA only recognizes one division in gymnastics. We follow DIII rules but we have an open championship. There are 17 Division III schools compared to 400-plus basketball schools. And I would say that for gymnastics, we are one of the top three academically.
The big difference is the liberal arts— you get to do all kinds of things and meet different professors and departments. It opens so many more doors for you. So many athletes change majors. One of my athletes is a Geography major. She never would have been if she hadn’t taken that class. One was going to be a Nursing major and now she’s an Accounting major. Mine was History and I’m a coach. And without a liberal arts background, without that ability to be open to all those different ways of life, I would never be the coach I am today.
I tell recruits, “Try to figure out what’s going to set you up after college in the best position possible.” Here, you’re not getting the accolades and all the glory of bigger divisions. You’re getting a better student-faculty ratio. You’re get a caring support system that I don’t know that you’d get at other places. When we were students, we always talked about the community of Gustavus, but I didn’t really understand it until I got on the coaching side. Everybody here genuinely cares about the students and the wellbeing of the college and our general health. It’s why we do what we do.
At 18, you don’t understand the life decisions you’re making. But I tell my team that if you gave me the chance to do my four years of undergrad here again, I would say yes. I tell recruits that Gustavus is the greatest place ever.
