If you follow Redbird athletics, you’ve probably seen the athletic talents of Honors Program student athlete, Erin Lindsey, on the Sports page of the Vidette. As a member of the Women’s Volleyball Team, Erin was the MVP of the 2007 season as well as being 2 nd team All-Missouri Valley Conference, 1 st team Valley Scholar Athlete and All Tournament Team for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. And while all of these awards are flattering to Erin, her biggest thrill last season was that her team went to the NCAA tournament.
Erin’s successes on the court are only part of the story behind this busy student. Erin is a Computer Physics major with minors in both Mathematics and Exercise Science. She chose Illinois State because it had the right mix of athletics and academics. She was especially pleased with the Physics department, and has had opportunities to work with many of her professors and network with them to help her reach her career goals.
Erin’s dream job is to be an astronaut, and she hopes to take the first steps to realizing her dream this summer with an internship that she applied for at NASA. Eventually, Erin would like to travel into space and study the long term effects on astronauts of being in space. Some of the research that she has done while at Illinois State will definitely help her in this pursuit. Erin has helped with research to determine the body composition of athletes at different points throughout their season to find the strengths and weaknesses of the players. More recently, she has been involved with a project that measures a person’s body age, measured through body composition, against their chronological age. Participants in this project are then challenged to reduce their body age through diet and exercise.
Athletes participating in community service is a goal of the athletic department, and as a member of the volleyball team, Erin has participated in various community service activities. Some of these include canned food drives and reading to elementary school students. Currently, the volleyball team is thinking of adopting the Ronald McDonald House as their charity.
Erin says that being a student athlete always keeps her busy! It has taught her to work well under pressure and to focus because there may not be much time to get all of her work done.
Erin’s advice to freshmen is to learn to balance your commitments and get involved! Getting involved in campus life makes college even better!