How does being a student-athlete enhance your experience as a college student? In this video, Vanessa Kuliga from Daemen’s women’s volleyball team talks about her experiences as a student-athlete and what she enjoys most about being at Daemen.
Last season we had a very good season.
We actually went to the Elite Eight tournament and it was the first time that the Daemen women’s volleyball team ever made an appearance there so I’m very excited to potentially do that again.
(upbeat music)
My name is Vanessa Kuliga, and I am on the Daemen Women’s Volleyball team.
The best part about being a student-athlete is the people you meet, it’s a very tight-knit community.
No matter what you’re always going to have friends in your teammates.
You meet so many people.
I came to a new state, and I already had like a set group of friends when I got here because of my team.
In my time here, in my two years here I’ve grown a lot and I’ve changed as a person through my coaches, my professors, my friends that I’ve met any other people that I’ve come around.
Just being able to play my sport still and being able to focus on school at a division two level is really great for me, especially at Daemen.
The smaller class sizes for a science major are very helpful ’cause you get to communicate with your teachers better.
They get to know you better.
You definitely have to be disciplined.
Time management is very important.
You have a set schedule, no matter like, practice times you can’t miss your practice times.
You have to find those little timeframes in your day to do your work because you’re always busy.
What pushes me to do better is my teammates always holding me accountable because we always wanna be the best that we can be for each other.
So we’re always held to a very high standard.
They always keep me going.
I was scared ’cause it’s eight and a half hours away from home. I thought I was going to be homesick.
It’s a very small school, which I like.
It’s like a tight-knit like family community, and it’s just made me feel at home.
Just having that fact of having a division two school that pushes you in academics, but you also get to play your sport is amazing.
There’s not a lot of places that you can find that, and especially at Daemen, the academic levels, especially for the sciences, are very high, and everyone wants you to succeed.
So having that is great.
Being at Daemen has definitely helped me grow a lot as a person, as an athlete, because of its community and all the people that I’ve met here.
I don’t know if I would’ve gotten that experience anywhere else, so I’m very, very glad that I ended up here.
