As the 2012-2013 academic

year nears an end, I am ex-

tremely proud of the efforts of

our Athletes for Success in the

Classroom team at the Richard

R. Green House. The 2012

Fall Semester saw a record

number 248 student-athletes

combine for over 10,000 study

hours demonstrating the effort

needed to succeed in the class-

room.

We are proud of our teams and

student-athletes for their com-

mitment to academic excel-

lence. Each year Multicultural

Student Services recognizes

that commitment by honoring

two student-athletes for their

accomplishments both on and

off the field.

This past year

those student-

athletes were

All-American

and National

Champion Shamus O’Grady

from the Wrestling Team and

Victoria Martinez from the

Swimming and Diving Team.

Congratulations

to both Shamus

and Victoria!

We would also

like to extend a

special thanks to all of those

graduating student-athletes

who have helped define Husky

Nation!! Forever Huskies!!

—Shawn Kakuk

The Director’s Chair

Participating in college athlet-ics and being a student-athlete presents college students with a wide range of opportunities. The SCSU softball team has the privilege to travel twice a year: Las Vegas, Nevada and Orlando, Florida and for Natalie Shaft, first year out-fielder from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, these two trips were only her second and third times ever being on a plane. After becoming more familiar with the airport lifestyle and becoming a “seasoned” trav-eler, Natalie expresses herself

as, “being a more experienced traveler.” Natalie hopes to fur-ther broaden her travel experi-ences by studying abroad next summer.

During her off day in Orlando, Natalie chose to visit Tom and Jerry’s Airboat rides with four other teammates. There they saw many alligators and at the end of the ride they were able to hold a baby gator. Natalie shares, “it was cool to be able to see something that you would never find in the Mid-west.” Natalie looks forward to future trips down to Florida in

the hopes of gaining more ex-perience as a traveler, taking on more adventures and continu-ing to help the Huskies with successful, winning road trips.

—Marie Imholte

Opportunities

2013 Spring Semester

Volume 2 Issue 2

Athletes for Success

Inside this issue:

The Director’s Chair 1

Opportunities 1

Meet the RGHers 2

Coach’s Box 2

Making a Difference 3

The Writer’s Block 3

Where Are They

Now?

3

Pup’s Corner 4

Senior Reyan Robinson re-cently completed her eligibility on the SCSU Women’s Basket-ball team and will be graduat-ing with a degree in Commu-nity Psychology at the end of this semester. Reyan attributes her success to her ability to manage her time as a student-athlete. Reyan said that she has been successfully managing her academics and athletics by “getting stuff done as soon as possible because there is always something com-ing up.”

As a tutor at the Green House, Reyan says “the Green House has a really good environment to get stuff done and there are resources here to help stu-dents.” Reyan’s goal in tutor-ing fellow students is to show them that they can do it and she enjoys helping students understand they can achieve their task. Reyan has been very active on campus and a role

model to her peers. With only a few weeks left before gradua-tion Reyan is ready to move forward with the next steps in her life. Special Education major, Sha-

mus O’Grady, is a well accom-

plished student-athlete at

SCSU. Shamus is one of only

six four-time All-Americans

for the

SCSU

Wrestling

team. One

of the most

prolific

wrestlers in

SCSU his-

tory, Sha-

mus re-

cently won the 184 pound Na-

tional Championship and was

the Northern Sun Intercolle-

giate Athletic Conference and

NCAA Division II Wrestler of

the Year.

Athletics is not all that Shamus

focuses on; he is also recog-

nized for his work in the class-

room. That success in the

classroom landed Shamus on

the tutoring team at the Rich-

ard R. Green House this past

year. Shamus tutors fellow

students, primarily in Math 201

and 301, and says “he is

Shawn’s go to guy for running

errands on campus, and what-

ever else the Green House

needs.” Shamus says “the

Green House is a good place

to study and provides a service

that students should take ad-

vantage of.” For plans after

being a student-athlete at

SCSU, Shamus has not yet

decided. With plenty of oppor-

tunities, Shamus said “I would

like to continue my career in

wrestling, become a teacher

and coach, but who knows I

might never leave St. Cloud, I

like it here.”

—Kenquane Brown

really wants to see everyone succeed,” said McCabe.

McCabe is not the only St. Cloud State Head Coach that believes this theory, “The Green House is a great re-source, much better than the library, it’s just something about the structured setting that I like, you can’t find an-other place on campus like it,” said Head Baseball Coach Pat Dolan. With several of Do-

“Success, efficiency, accommo-dation, support,” several words used by St. Cloud State Head Soccer Coach Becky McCabe while describing the Richard R. Green House. With tutors available in numerous subjects on campus, quiet study areas, and a very experienced aca-demic advisor in Shawn Ka-kuk, the Green House is an ideal place to be if you want to be successful. “Shawn does a great job with the athletes, he

lan’s athletes as Green House tutors, he puts great trust in the Greenhouse, “If anyone on my team needs help, rookie or veteran, we just give Shawn a call, and the rest is taken care of,” said Dolan.

—Marvin Matthews

Meet the RGHers

Coach’s Box

“The Green House is a good

place to study and provides a

service that students should

take advantage of.”

Page 2 Ath letes for Success Volume 2 I ssue 2

Making a Difference

Where Are They Now?

The Writer’s Block

St. Cloud State University coaches send their student-athletes to the Green House for more than just academic improvement. Head wrestling coach Steve Costanzo requires Green House hours with addi-tional values, such as self-discipline, in mind. “Everything in life requires self-discipline,” said Costanzo. “Nothing is given to you and everything must be earned.”

Senior wrestler Shamus O’Grady confirmed that the Green House is fulfilling Co-stanzo’s hopes for self-discipline. O’Grady, who is

also an academic tutor, ex-plained that the Green House requirements correlate with wrestling requirements, such as managing one’s weight. “[We] always hit our Green House hours,” said O’Grady. “Often to the exact minute.”

If Coach Costanzo required himself to attend the Green House, O’Grady would be a likely candidate to tutor him. “I would want to be tutored in mathematics by Shamus,” said Costanzo. “He is confident and passionate in this subject.” While elementary math is O’Grady’s expertise, the four-

time All-American had a dif-ferent sub-ject in mind. “I’d tutor him in typewriting,” said O’Grady. “He types like a dinosaur.”

—Phil Imholte

ply the main points. This allows

for the thesis and main points

to be shown, broken down and

thought about critically, because

simply showcasing the main

points is not enough; a writer

must know what they want and

have to say about their main

points. The same functions of

outlining can be accomplished

by creating a mental outline as

opposed to a written one. For

at the end of the day it is the act

of thinking critically and in

depth about what you want to

say, have to say, and can say

about your topic and main

points that matter.

There is no one solution for

everyone, so experiment and

find your way, because every

student grumbles when they

have to write a paper, but not

every student has to grumble

after the paper is graded.

—Jason Terres

“Write a paper,” these words

are enough to make even the

veteran student grumble.

However, the process of writ-

ing a paper needs to be neither

difficult nor stressful. And it

will not be if you put proper

planning into it.

Outlines can be very useful

planning tools. The correct

way to use an outline is to lay

out your entire paper, not sim-

needed to succeed as a student-athlete. Sarah believes that “the Athletes for Success in the Classroom program gave me the tools, resources and support to help manage my time to become a successful student-athlete and surrounded me with other stu-dent-athletes going through this same transition.” Sarah added “The ASC program played a significant role in my success as a student-athlete and reaching graduation. It taught me ac-countability, work-ethic, team-

Pioneer…one who is first, or among the earliest to open the path for others to follow.

Sarah Strohschein, former SCSU volleyball player, was among the first participants in the Athletes for Success in the Classroom program and the first Green House tutor. Sarah is a true pioneer.

Sarah successfully mastered the transition into college and into the professional world, quickly realizing the commitment

work, and community.”

Today, Sarah uses those same skills as the retail manager for the Carolina Panthers as she continues to build upon the success she enjoyed here at SCSU. As a true pioneer Sarah has modeled the skills and de-termination needed to be, not only a successful student-athlete, but also a successful professional, and more impor-tantly, a successful person.

—Shawn Kakuk

“A writer must know

what they want and

have to say about their

main points.”

Page 3 Ath letes for Success Volume 2 I ssue 2

Our goal is to aid in the development of student athletes at

St. Cloud State University, increasing productivity through

academic support, academic advising and encouragement.

Physical Address: 827 4th Avenue South

St. Cloud, MN 56301

Mailing Address: 720 4th Avenue South

St. Cloud, MN 56301

www.stcloudstate.edu/asc/

in college, but I definitely do

not want to give up music. “It

can be done,” he told me,

“there is no reason why you

can’t pursue multiple interests.

If you really love something

don’t shy away from it if it

doesn’t mix well with another

thing you love. Just be thank-

ful for all the opportunities you

are given.”

A lot of people in college (and

in my case high school next

year), especially first year stu-

dents, sometimes get confused

about how to manage their

time. “You just have to take it

week by week,” he said,

When coming into college

there are so many paths one

can take. We all have the

things we are passionate about

but sometimes some of our

passions are hard to mix to-

gether. I personally have felt

this recently while filling out

my high school registration for

my first year at Tech High.

Phil Imholte is a senior who

plays left field and is captain of

the SCSU baseball team. Phil

is also a musician who has

helped me out with my own

musical interests. I myself am

hoping to be a student-athlete

“sometimes I’ll write myself a

schedule and goals I want to

accomplish that day or week. I

always like to have a little

down time and time to live my

social life.” That is the perfect

concoction for success and

happiness.

I can’t wait to pursue my pas-

sions and mix them into a col-

lege environment. A lot of

which is thanks to Phil. I guess

the moral of the story is to

chase after your dreams and to

not second guess yourself and

your goals.

—Sydney Kakuk

Pup’s Corner

Phone: 320-308-5392

Fax: 320-308-1525

E-mail: sakakuk@stcloudstate.edu

Education for Life

Richard Green House