Full Great Women Great Danes Interview Transcript
UAlbany's Great Women Great Danes is a new series that will be published during Women's History Month. The series will feature Great Danes, past and present, and celebrate the women of UAlbany.
Q: Can you tell me about your student athlete experience here?
A: I knew that I wanted to come to UAlbany when I was early in high school. I wanted to be close to home. I live in Ballston Spa, so it's only about 30 minutes away. I have loved being a student-athlete. I feel like it's given me a chance to succeed in the classroom that I wouldn't have had otherwise. The skills that I have taken from being on a team and playing a Division I sport - I feel like they are tremendous and they're going to help me now and they're going to help me later in life when I get a job. And I love it. My teammates are probably the best thing that's come from the experience. I feel like I've made lifelong friends and the relationships that I've made are going to carry along throughout the rest of my life.
Q: You lettered two years in basketball and a year in volleyball, so you were a three-sport athlete in high school. What made you choose softball?
A: I feel like I enjoyed softball the most out of all of the sports that I played. I found it the most exciting. My friends in high school, that I had played with, were the ones that I had played with since we were, I don't know, nine. We really carried that relationship on and I think that made it more enjoyable. And then, because of that, I just grew into the sport so much more than the other two. By the time I was, I think, a sophomore, it was the obvious choice for me to keep playing softball in college.
Q: You said you knew you wanted to stay local. Was UAlbany kind of the only choice? Were you looking anywhere else?
A: No, I mean, I considered … when I say local, I mean within a few hours. There were a lot of schools around here and in New York State, really, that I wanted to stay very close to. Being close to my family was … I'm a huge family person, so being close to them was a big deal for me. When I had the option to come to UAlbany, it was the clear choice.
Q: You're a biology major, you have a 4.0 GPA, and you're a student-athlete along with all of the community service duties that being a student-athlete requires. How do you do it all?
A: It's definitely not easy. I'm not going to claim that it is. Part of being a student-athlete is learning how to deal with all kinds of adversity, and schoolwork, at times, can pile up and be challenging. Something that I've learned since I've been at UAlbany is time management skills, down to the hour of every day of every week. I think that in my three years since I've been here, I've kind of really mastered that and it's helped me maintain my GPA and succeed in the classroom outside of all the duties that come with being a student-athlete.
Q: Can you tell me a little bit about the pre-dental club?
A: I'm a bio major on a pre-dental track. So, in the spring I'll be applying to probably 10 or so dental schools, which I want to be a dentist when I grow up. So, when I was a freshman, I kind of wanted to get more involved in the academic side of UAlbany because we were on Zoom and I was virtual and with classes and all that stuff so I wanted to get more involved. I joined the pre-dental club and I worked my way up to being the president now … and that's just another thing that I have to balance when it comes to my life. But I do love it. I love my peers that I work with in that side of my life. Since being the president, I started an educational program where we go into schools and we talk about how brushing and flossing is important and how a healthy mouth leads to a healthy life. I think that we've had a good impact on the local community from what we've done so far, and hopefully that they can keep that going and build on it once I graduate.
Q: You're not typically a starter on the softball team, more of a team player. Can you speak about that as a whole?
A: I think that when you get to the college level … I mean playing Division I was my goal. It was what I wanted to do since I decided that softball was going to be my sport. And, the coaches will tell us all the time, every single one of us, we were the star on our team in high school or we were ‘the girl’ in high school and now we're all together. I think that when you make that choice, at least for me, I knew going in, ‘okay, whatever happens, I am a team player and I support all my teammates, and whether I'm on the field or not on the field.’ I don't think that your perspective of the game or your attitude towards your team, your coaches, your teammates should change. I think that's something that's really kind of helped me with that because, obviously, everybody wants to be on the field, but when it comes to doing what's best for the team, I'm going to do that every day of the week. If it's supporting one of my teammates that's down, if it's doing whatever it is to help the team, that's what I'm going to do. And that's … I’ve found clarity in that role. I think I actually like that aspect of helping the team in that way. I think that that's something that I really have come to love about the sport.
Q: Last year, you found out you had a tumor?
A: It was in July of 2022. I went to the doctors for some typical symptoms that seemed off for me. And before that, we had chalked it up … when I say we I mean, my previous doctors, my family, my friends and I … when we would talk about it, we chopped it up to, ‘oh, you're a Division I athlete; you work out multiple times a day, that's just what happens.’ Or the, as an athlete, it's hard to get all the nutrition you need, so maybe it's just a nutritional reason that these things are happening to you. Or, oh, you get headaches, you're stressed out, you're a bio major, you're an athlete, you have a lot of stuff going on. So, all of those symptoms I kind of pushed aside because of all the things that I have on my plate. And, I didn't prioritize my health, which was not a good decision. So, in the summer when I did go to the doctor, I went to a doctor of osteopathic medicine, more of a holistic doctor this time, and she ordered a round of tests and she said, in addition to some of the previous tests that had been done, your symptoms did show signs of potential tumor that was causing my hormones to go wild and all these other symptoms that I was having. There was a long period of waiting when this was happening that did take a toll on my mental health. It took a toll on just my life in general because it was really hard to think about, like ‘oh my gosh, what does a brain tumor mean? What am I going to have to do? Have surgery to remove it? Is it going to be something that I have to deal with for the rest of my life? Is it going to impact all the other things that I have to do on a daily basis?’ And, in the midst of it, I was studying for my admissions test to go to dental school, which it's similar to the MCAT. I studied for 10 weeks for it, and I found out that I had the tumor in week five … so really unfortunate timing. Despite the diagnosis that I got during that time, I decided that it was something that I had to do for myself. So, I continued to study and I actually did really well on my test. But the tumor … After the MRI of my head, and an MRI of my body and … what else did I have? Blood tests, ultrasounds, all the whole nine. It did come back that I have a pituitary adenoma on my pituitary gland, which is basically a growth that secretes hormones, alters your hormones, and pushes out other things in your head. It's not something that's super common, but it is something that a lot of women deal with and a lot of women have it go unnoticed because a lot of people chalk it up to working out a lot or not eating enough or things like that. It was definitely a surprise. I am on medication now to shrink it and it's supposedly working.
Q: Obviously, surgery was not needed to remove it?
A: No. We did find out that we caught it remotely early and it's not too big yet. I am on medication now to shrink it and I haven't had an MRI to confirm that it's been working, but my hormone levels are back within normal range. So, presumably it has been shrinking.
Q: So, the medication that you're taking … it sounds like it doesn't really affect anything because you're still playing, you're still in school.
A: Yeah. In the beginning it was … anytime you start a new medication, your body has to adjust. And in the beginning, in the fall, I think I started in October, I got headaches. I was dizzy and nauseous more frequently than I would've liked. That wasn't a huge side effect, but it affected … on top of [the physical symptoms, the thoughts], - ‘oh my gosh, I have this tumor in my head, is this going to work?’ - all kind of piled up. I did struggle with that in the fall plus I had a lot of hard courses and I'm starting to get ready to apply to school, so it all kind of piled up on me. But, I was able to persevere the best that I could. The side effects haven't been too bad - it's been manageable and it's getting better since then.
Q: Was there ever a thought that it was cancer?
A: Luckily, they had told me … when my doctor was first like, okay, this is probably what this is, she had said, almost all the time [these tumors] are benign. So, I did know right away that it wasn't cancerous. It wasn't like, ‘oh my gosh, am I going to have to go chemo’ or anything like that. The biggest scare for me was definitely the thought of having to have brain surgery because obviously there's complications with that. There's not a lot of space in there so that was definitely concerning. I'm happy to know that [cancer’s] likely not the case for me ever as long as the medication continues to work.
Q: Is there any advice that you have for someone who is going through a time in their life where they feel overwhelmed and they're trying to keep up with everything? Maybe they have a super busy life, maybe they're in the same place that you are … you have multiple clubs that you're in or in charge of, you're a student-athlete, you are a biology major, and you have kept up your academics. So, do you have any advice for someone who may be starting out with college and trying to figure out how to make it work?
A: Whenever I get overwhelmed, I try to take it day-by-day. I think that that's been something that's been really helpful. It's definitely not an easy thing to do. I also think that prioritizing yourself and your mental health is really important, especially nowadays when we have social media that puts extra stress on people. We have all these other expectations that people feel like they have to meet. I think that sticking to myself and my goals is something that really helped me. I've had my end goal in sight of what I wanted to do with my life since … I don't know … since I can remember, I've had this life plan for myself. I think that just doing things that are going to be good for yourself is what’s been my driving force. Also, not letting everything pile up and overwhelm you and just stay in that course. I think it's the best advice I could give.
Q: How have the women around you helped you become the athlete, person, and student you are today?
A: I've had a lot of women that have impacted my journey in athletics, academics, and my personal life. The biggest one, obviously my mom … My mom's my best friend and she is the strongest woman I know. I come from a military family - my dad, he was in the Air Force, so there was a lot of … he would travel every year for a portion of the year, usually three or four months. So, there were a lot of times that my mom would raise my brother and I kind of by herself. She didn't have a ton of help. And, while she was doing that, she also was going back to school. She actually came to UAlbany and got her master's here to go back to become a teacher. Since then, she's been an elementary school teacher in my hometown. And, she is amazing at what she does, and she really has inspired me to stick to things when things get tough and always persevere. So, she's been a monumental part of my story. I also had a few really good female coaches when I was in high school. One of my travel coaches, who I still talk to almost every day now, was a huge part of my life in showing me that women are strong and can do whatever they want to do in life. She didn't take anything from anybody and kind of showed me what grit is. I still carry that with me today, I think. At school, I have a really good relationship with a lot of my female professors who all have their PhDs or other advanced degrees and have succeeded in their fields. They're really inspiring to me. I love the conversations that I have with them. I love learning from them. Also Coach [Chris] Cannata, Coach [Kate] G[entile], and all my teammates, I'm around them every day and they, obviously, inspire me when it comes to the athletic side. Being around them has really changed my perspective on life. I think that that's something that I'm going to keep carrying with me.
Q: You've had all of this success and you're young - you have so much to do with your life still. What does it mean that young females could look up to you because of what you are doing?
A: I think that it's important when you're young to see people … well, I guess this is an important point - when I was younger, I don't remember the age I started coming, but I would always come to the UAlbany softball camps. I saw the older girls that played for UAlbany and I used to love coming. I thought it was the coolest thing. I thought that they were these huge superstar people and I remember telling my parents, I want to be like them. That's super cool. Now that I'm here, I think that's a really cool reflection that I have. And, I think that it's important for young girls to see people that are older than them succeed in all kinds of different fields, whether it's athletics or in school. I think it's important for them to see them as teachers and as healthcare professionals, as dentists, doctors, all those kinds of things or people in sports. The representation of women in all fields is great for young girls. So, I think that just exposure to that is really important. Having female role models that are older than you that you can look up to … I think that's really something that younger girls need to be able to succeed as they get older.
Q: What does Women's History Month mean to you?
A: Women's History Month means to me honoring the women that came before us, the ones that trailblazed, whether it be in athletics years ago - that allowed women to be equal when it comes to college and pro sports - or whether it's academia - when it comes to professional school, grad school, anything like that, and in competitive careers as well. The field that I'm going into, I think there's a lot more women that are entering that field now. So, I appreciate the women that came before me that kind of set that standard. I think that's only going to continue and we're going to see more women in more positions of power in all of these different fields. And, I think that's really important. During this month, not only honoring [women], but celebrating the success that we have around us. We started our season a few weeks ago, and I think it's important to celebrate the success that my teammates have on the field, in the classroom, and in our personal lives, as well.
For more interviews from the Women's History Month #GreatWomenGreatDanes series, click here.
