Q: How does faith, coaching, and teaching, connect to one another, to you as a person?
A: Faith, coaching, and teaching are extremely interconnected, in my opinion. I intentionally work to make faith a part of everything I do in my life so coaching and teaching are no exception. I am grateful that God gave us all different strengths and interests. I try to use the platforms of teaching and coaching to multiply good in this world. I am a humble servant though and I know some days I do a better job than others. Life is a journey and I hope to positively impact all with whom I come into contact so that they may feel God’s love through my efforts.
Q: If you could describe your coaching style, what would it be?
A: Having had experience in both coaching and youth ministry, I view coaching as another form of ministry for our young adult student-athletes. At a Catholic school, especially, I view coaching as an extension of the classroom. There are so many skills, values, and virtues that can be discussed as a team and as athletes as they go through the highs and the lows of a season. There are so many valuable life lessons in sport which present such unique opportunities for us to lead with our faith. There are many days I pray that God guides the words that I use as I help to prepare our players to navigate each practice and each match, but more importantly I hope that something we do in our time together helps them navigate life after volleyball, and ultimately gets them the biggest win in life – a place in heaven after life is done here.
Q: What is a hobby or fun fact that students or coworkers may not know about you?
A: My military husband always laughs because he says I dive head first into a hobby until I burn out on it and then I never want to do it again. All kidding aside, I like to dare myself to do difficult things. For example, I dared myself to train for and run a marathon, as well as several half-marathons. I have completed triathlons, adventure races, climbed 100 flights of stairs in a race, and completed a 100 mile bike ride. I dared myself to go back to school after 17 years for my masters and then I stayed to complete PhD coursework. I traveled to Alabama along the civil rights trail with a group of young adults from the University of Louisville. I reluctantly became a youth minister, not because I felt competent to be one but because the youth of our parish needed one since the spot had been empty for awhile. That position prompted me to share my faith openly with others which was uncomfortable at first but slowly it helped me to be able to weave this into other areas of my life. Maybe… my most crazy dare for myself yet was that as a graduate of Roncalli I found myself applying to Cathedral. I am so happy that I did. My point is that I try to listen for God at work in my life and many times in doing so I am pushed outside of my comfort zone, and every single time it has been worth it. Daring myself to try difficult things is my hobby.
Q: Who or what inspires you the most?
A: I probably draw the most inspiration from the life of Mary. I can relate to her as a mother and I cannot imagine the strength she had to have to say “yes” to difficult things and to walk alongside her son through so much struggle and suffering at the end of his life.
Other than that, I am a sucker for good, inspirational sports movies…Remember the Titans, Miracle, Hoosiers, you name it…I have watched it and I have probably cried at some point during it. The story of a group or an individual working through struggle and then accomplishing something together is where it is at. There is ALWAYS hope, always a light…just push through to get to it.
Q:How do you hope to make faith come alive for students in the classroom, and/or for you in your personal life?
A: For myself, I make faith come alive by making a conscious effort to quiet the world around me. I have to be intentional with this in my life. Sometimes I do this by simply turning off the noise around me and by retreating somewhere to be by myself. Other times I make time to quiet my life by participating in the sacraments and by spending time with Jesus. Either way, this allows me to hear God at work in my life.
In the classroom, I just try to lead by example and with love. I want everyone to feel comfortable in my classroom. My 4 kids have grown and moved away. The students at Cathedral are my kids, they help me to fill that void of missing my own. I want the students to feel like they have someone they can lean on, someone who will listen, someone who will accompany them through hard times. The education we get from the lessons in the classroom and on the volleyball court are important, but ultimately I want students to remember how they felt during their time at Cathedral, and I hope that means they felt God’s love.
