HANDLING HURDLES


When Emily Beisecker (’20) first came to NGU, she loved the small school feel and the tight-knit community that permeates the campus. But even though she played intramu- ral sports her first semester and attended several student-life activities, she still felt she was floating around.


“I was having a difficult time finding a core group of friends or feeling like I had a place to belong,” she shared.


Emily grew up running cross country and track, but when her family moved to South Carolina right before her freshman year of high school, her new school didn’t have either of those sports. During her high school years, she played other sports and con- sidered running, but felt like it had already been too long since she had participated in it. “I loved playing other sports,” Emily said, “but decided not to pursue playing any of them in college.”


While at NGU, Emily became friends with some track and field athletes. When they found out Emily used to run, they were determined to convince her to join the team.


“At the time, there were no female hurdlers at NGU, which happened to be the event that I was best at,” Emily shared. “After some discussion, I agreed to give it a shot if the coaches were willing to let me try.”


Emily met with the coaches, and they decided to let her join the team and began work- ing with her as a sprinter and hurdler.


“It was very difficult at first and took some time to get back into the swing of things,” Emily admitted. She had no idea how she would be able to compete with people who had been training for years, but her coaches poured into her and began developing her into the athlete they knew she could be.


“The track and field coaches are phenomenal,” Emily stated. “They have every ounce of my respect and have become lifelong mentors. While they coached me on the track, they also assisted me in figuring out my future plans and achieving the goals I have set for my own life. I did a substantial amount of growing, changing, and learning while at NGU. Much of this can be credited to the experiences from being a part of the track and field team and the influence of my coaches.”


“Being on the track team gave me a family, challenged me, encouraged me to be health- ier, made me stronger, and equipped me with tools that I will use for a lifetime,” she said.


It is not easy to be a full-time college student and an athlete, but Emily relished the chance to grow.


“The challenges that come with being a student-athlete are character-building,” she explained. “While I enjoyed being a student at NGU before joining the track and field team, I cannot imagine missing out on the experiences that I was blessed to have as an athlete as well.”


Emily’s experiences as an athlete will not be left on the track when she moves on in her career. On the contrary, Emily knows that what she has learned as an athlete will make her an even better occupational therapist.


“That’s the thing about sports,” she shared. “It is so much more than just sports. It’s building relationships, overcoming challenges, and learning real, applicable life lessons. Balancing school, work, athletics, family, and social life requires intentionality and planning. Athletics involves adversity and learning how to persevere through the vari- ous obstacles a team must face together.”


“I did not originally plan to be a part of an athletic team at NGU,” Emily shared, “But it was the best decision I ever made during my time there.”


After graduating with her bachelor’s in health science this past spring, Emily married in August and started working as a registered behavior technician at Hope Reach in Greenville. She took classes this fall towards her Master of Education degree at NGU while participating in her final season of track since the spring season was canceled due to COVID-19. Starting in May of 2021, Emily plans to begin her Master of Occupational Therapy degree at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, NC.


NGU.EDU | 3


MAY 2020 GRADUATE


“The challenges that come with being a student-athlete are character-building.”


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