By: By: Sarah Porri
It can be an arduous task to make the transition from high school senior to college freshman. There are so many new opportunities in classes, clubs and organizations as well as making friends that will last a lifetime. The life of a student-athlete, however, takes all of these components and adds in twenty hours of practice per week with multiple weekends of competition and travel.
“The combination of the Honors Program, the ability to play soccer and being close to home are really what drew me here,” says Nelson about her choosing Kennesaw State over other schools.
Student-athletes have the added task of balancing this commitment with their classroom responsibilities. Succeeding in both in the first year is almost unheard of, but freshman soccer player Julia Nelson has made it her goal to be a completely dedicated Kennesaw State Owl on and off the field. She played in almost every game this past season and was the second highest scorer in her freshmen class.
Nelson, a midfielder from Marietta, GA, is currently majoring in physical therapy and is in the Kennesaw State Honors Program. Knowing the requirements of her coursework as part of the Honors Program, Nelson has made it a priority to excel in the classroom. She carries well above a 3.5 GPA and also dedicates time to asking additional questions outside of class to expand her studies well beyond the average student needs. KSU 1111 Professor Ken Hill couldn’t be more proud of Nelson’s hunger to learn in and outside the classroom.
“She is wonderfully organized and a very very bright young lady,” says Hill. “It’s refreshing to see such a combination in a student-athlete. She excels in her drive to learn everything she can during and after class. It’s exceptional.”
As part of the First-Year Seminars Program, Julia will travel with her fellow students and professors to Brazil during Spring Break to observe what they learned about in last semester’s “Tomorrow’s World Today” seminar first-hand. This class is designed for students to discover the Seven Revolutions of a growing nation and then apply that knowledge in a real life situation. The different revolutions are as follows: population, resource management, information/knowledge, technology, economic integration, security and governance. This trip will act as the final piece of the course, going beyond the classroom to experience the world in a new and exciting way.
“The course centers around seven key drivers of change,” explains Hill. “Brazil has come out of authoritative government structure for a more democratic style in the last 20 years, and now they are thriving. We want our students to see first hand how far Brazil has come and how they are now an emerging global leader in economy and geopolitical power.”
Nelson and her fellow students will visit government centers, an industrial plant, and rural society organizations on their week long excursion. Upon completion of this trip, Nelson and others will prepare a presentation on their experience and present it to Kennesaw State University President Dr. Daniel S. Papp in April.
“I made more friends in this class because we met outside of class to do other things,” says Nelson of her KSU 1111 experience. “It made it a more enjoyable experience especially with going to Brazil very soon.”
Nelson’s cohort of 28 freshmen honors students will move through the KSU Leadership Certificate Program over the next four years as part of the President’s Emerging Global Scholars (PEGS) program. PEGS has been charged with the task of recruiting high school seniors in the top five percent of their classes to Kennesaw State with aspirations to become Rhodes, Fullbright and Truman Scholars. This group of talented students will travel to Brazil this year, Ghana next year and finally India in their junior year. Nelson has also considered extending her horizons even more to the study abroad programs in the summer.
“It’s hard to balance the time with the harder classes you take,” says Nelson. “But being a student-athlete has taught me to manage my time better and be successful in class. I love it here.”
Nelson’s schedule is packed full of soccer practice, class, and other outside activities. She regularly completes community service hours with her soccer teammates. Just this year, Nelson and her teammates have visited a local elementary school to read to children and assist a local Girl Scout troupe in their service efforts. Nelson is just one of many Kennesaw State Owl student-athletes who are making themselves known in the classroom, on the field and in the community. She exemplifies everything the Black and Gold could want in a student, an athlete and an ambassador for Kennesaw State Athletics.
Be on the lookout for an update and pictures from Nelson herself about her experience in Brazil over Spring Break as well as news on her and fellow students’ presentation to President Papp in April.
