Meet Our Athletes
These four Southwestern athletes—and many others like them—not only go against the stereotype, but demonstrate leadership on and off the field.
Josue Maldonaldo ’13, lementary ducation
Josue Maldonaldo found out that the college right for him was close to home. At the same time, he also found a career path as an elementary education major and even joined the University’s athletics program. All three worked out as part of “God’s plan,” as Maldonaldo puts it. “It’s a great environment and I’m glad I’m here,” he says. Maldonaldo likes the school’s personal size, where he can meet new people easily, have closer friendships, and feel that he knows everyone. He especially enjoys being involved in soccer, where Southwestern’s international reach has him playing “new people who are very different from you.” He finds sports on campus a great stress reliever and a good way to stay in shape. He is able to balance academics and athletics by using the same principles of time management he used in high school. “The GPA requirement is a good thing. I want to do good in school so that I am not kept out of a game because of academic reasons,” he says. “I want to do well in classes because being a teacher requires me to transfer knowledge to others, and I really want to understand the subject matter that I’m learning in each of my classes.” He’s grateful for the support that he gets on the field from faculty like Michael England, professor of edu-
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I want to do well in classes because being a teacher re uires me to transfer knowledge to others. cation, and Janice Steyn, professor of nursing, who attend all of the games. He is also grateful to Coach Luis Negrete for dedicating so much
time to the soccer team. He feels that Negrete’s dedication has helped develop Southwestern’s soccer team into a very competitive squad. “I’m very proud of Southwestern and proud to represent them playing the game that I love.”
lyssa raves
ccounting
A graduate of Burton Adventist Academy in Arlington, Texas, Alyssa Graves graduated from Southwestern in May with a 4.0 GPA. While a student at Southwestern, she served as a student association officer and a leader on Southwestern’s women’s volleyball team. Her favorite part of athletics at Southwestern is the time she gets
osue Maldonaldo plans to bring to the elementary school classroom many of the lessons he learned as an athlete on campus.
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6/27/13 4:00 PM