What inspired you to become an Academic Eligibility Specialist for student-athletes?

I was a baseball student-athlete in college at Central Michigan, and I went to school with the goal of working in sports broadcasting. I chose to keep that as a possibility, but at the end of my freshman year, I decided to focus more on becoming a teacher and baseball and basketball coach. I remember sitting in my athletic academic advisor’s office one day at CMU. I was looking around his office and thinking, “Man, this guy’s got a cool job.” He helped people with their class schedules and talked with them about goals and career development. I also frequently saw him at our baseball practices and the various teams’ games, with a credential and usually a plate full of free food! I kept this career in mind, and I reached out to that former advisor during my year of teaching here in the Clark County School District, and he helped me set up a game plan to get into the field.

Where and what did you receive your undergraduate degree in? What do you value the most about it?

I went to Central Michigan University. It’s about 3 hours from where I grew up in Southwest Michigan. I triple majored; I was a secondary education major, and you had to pick a focus within that program. I chose to do English. There was also a speech with a broadcasting emphasis option for secondary education, where you took most of the broadcast and cinematic arts core classes and lecture/speech education classes. So 186 credits later, I graduated with my B.S. in Secondary Education, with majors in English and Speech with a Broadcast Emphasis. I went to CMU on a full academic scholarship for four years…and took five and a half to graduate–thanks to the three majors–so I wasn’t as smart as they thought when they gave me the scholarship! I really valued my experience as a student-athlete. I didn’t play a lot since I realistically had Division II or Division III talent, but I was able to walk onto the baseball team and get that experience being around Division I athletics. Without that experience, I might not have gotten into this field.

How has working with student-athletes made an impact on your life?

I worked at the University of South Florida and Grand Canyon University for 5 and 6 years, respectively, and working with student-athletes and seeing them grow over time is really rewarding. This is especially true when seeing full recruiting classes go through and graduate. Some students come in with very low student identity and a negative attitude towards school. It was great seeing them eventually get to the point where they saw the value in graduating and education. I was in Phoenix last May, and a few former GCU baseball players came up to me at the conference tournament. They updated me on their lives and told me about what they were up to, and that’s always fun. Making those long-lasting connections definitely has a big impact.

What are your favorite sports?

Baseball, softball, basketball, football, and hockey are the sports that I follow. I played baseball in college, it’s the sport I know the most about, and with the more extended season, there are more opportunities to watch and go to games. Baseball, then, is at the top of the list. (Unusual fact: I have tracked every sporting event I’ve watched on TV or attended in person since January 1, 2007. You can ask me what games I watched on any given day since then, and I’ll be able to look it up and tell you.)

What is your favorite part about UNLV?

Being back on campus after 14 years, there’s a lot of nostalgia from when I was here. I learned a lot in grad school here, and I learned a lot about college athletics. I also learned about research, what it is to get a Master’s Degree, and the bigger picture aspects of what a university is. When I look back on the time I studied here, I realize that this place greatly influenced what has come after that. Even after I left, I still followed UNLV closely. I’d watch the men’s basketball games while working at USF, even when games ended well after midnight on the east coast. I not only stayed caught up with athletics, but I also followed the news on the Carnegie Research 1 designation that UNLV received a few years ago. It was also named the most diverse campus in the country, and seeing things like that makes you proud.

Where did you grow up? What is your fondest childhood memory?

I grew up in Watervliet, Michigan, a very small town. There are about 2,000 residents, and it’s in the southwest part of Michigan, almost halfway between Detroit and Chicago, but a little bit closer to Chicago. It’s a small town, but it’s not really isolated because five miles down the road is another town of 3,000 people…and then five miles in the other direction is a town of 4,000 people, etc. It wasn’t as isolated as a lot of other small towns are. Mount Pleasant, Michigan (where I attended Central Michigan University) seemed like a big town to me, and it only had about 40,000 people. As for my fondest childhood memory, I grew up on a blueberry farm until I was ten. My grandpa’s house was right next door to my parent’s house, and two of my uncles lived on that same street. One summer, I remember hanging out with my Uncle Bill and taking walks with him. He even got me into playing baseball, and we watched the Chicago Cubs just about every afternoon that summer. That’s one of the memories I always remember from when I was a kid.

What qualities do you value in the most influential people in your life?

Integrity is number one, along with authenticity. Being vulnerable is a big one, too. Everyone’s got issues, so I value people who are the most upfront with their vulnerability. It takes courage for leaders to admit that they don’t know everything and that they are works in progress, but the best leaders do just that. Vulnerability actually ties in nicely with integrity and authenticity. I also value people who respect others. I think it’s a great quality to have when someone argues like they’re right but listens like they’re wrong. Being able to defend your stance on things while listening to other points of view is admirable. I also think having an infinite game mindset is better than having a finite mindset (I just read Simon Sinek’s The Infinite Game, so this has been on my mind a lot). It’s important for people to look at and act on what’s best for the long term, instead of some arbitrary short-term focus or number.

What is your major and year?

I’m a senior, and I’m in the social work program at UNLV. This spring semester is going to be my last semester. I was a psychology major when I started college and switched to social work since I wanted to get a clinical social work license.

Why did you choose to come to UNLV?

I was born and raised in Las Vegas. UNLV was just in the backyard of my house, so it was convenient that it was so close. I still live at home with my parents. I always wanted to be close to my family, so that was definitely the biggest factor that made me choose UNLV. 

What are your plans after graduating?

I applied for the Advanced Standing Master of Social Work program at UNLV. I will start in the summer to become a clinical social worker. I definitely wanted to do something that was a helping profession. I’ve always been really big on therapy and mental health. 

Can you tell us about your role as a front desk worker at the ASC?

As front desk workers, we do many things. The biggest thing we do is assist students and guide them. They come to us mainly when they don’t know where to go or might be lost. I like directing students to the correct office and just being able to help them. We know a little about every office, so when students are like “what do I do?” we can help guide them. The best part is knowing that we are helping students make a change.

Do you have any advice for the students who reach out to the ASC?

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. I feel like many students sometimes don’t want to sound dumb, but sometimes you don’t know. Asking those questions that you might have is definitely one of the best things you can do because we can see your needs and make sure we are pointing you in the right direction. So, definitely ask all the questions. We don’t mind answering them!

What has been the biggest challenge you've faced as a student? How did you overcome that challenge?

My mental health was one of the biggest challenges since I came to UNLV. The class of 2020 had a lot taken away from us, like graduation, prom, and those big events. I started in the Fall of 2020 during the pandemic era, so it was very isolating to begin as a freshman, not knowing anything and yet having to do all your classes online and not having the support of a community at the university. I think just making friends with people in my classes, putting myself out there, and getting involved with what was available helped a lot. I think that made it less isolating. I have many friends in the same program, so it made the college experience so much better than it could have been. 

What is an important piece of advice you would give to incoming college students?

Put yourself out there by joining clubs and just making friends. It makes your college experience so much better when you have people who can relate to you, especially people in the same program. Also, try out new things because you never know what you might like. College is the best place to try things out. 

I am also a big mental health advocate, so many students should know that it’s okay to struggle during college. Because I definitely did struggle a lot. It’s okay to struggle because that transition from wherever you’re coming from to where you’re going is very difficult. So just supporting the people that you have is going to be one big thing that can really help you get far.

What do you like to do outside of school?

I volunteer at a low-income subsidized housing for seniors. I do that for a few hours a week. I help the service coordinator translate for the Hispanic population there because I know English and Spanish. I also help with the residents. We have parties and different things like that. I am also a crafty person. I crochet when I have time. I do like paper crafts, knitting and sewing as well. Just any crafts that you can think of. I discovered this during the pandemic because I had nothing else to do. I couldn’t go outside. I couldn’t hang out with friends, so it gave me time to do something myself. 

What is one thing most people don't know about you?

Many people don’t know that I love everything to do with nature. I love science documentaries, and I’m a huge science nerd. Many people don’t see that in me, but I love the outdoors and learning more about environmental science, plants, and other things.