Each month the Southern Conference will feature a student-athlete from around the league in a series called the SoCon Spotlight. This will be an opportunity to get acquainted with the student-athlete in a different light. The question and answer session will focus on a student-athlete who contributes away from the field, course, mat or court through community service.
This SoCon Athlete Spotlight focuses on Appalachian State's Sam Ramirez, a junior criminal justice major from Fayetteville, N.C. Ramirez is a guard for the Mountaineers' women's basketball team, and when she's not on the court, she and her teammates take part in various community service projects. These projects include holding basketball clinics for elementary school students and helping freshmen team members move into their dorms. She is also a member of ROTC and the National Guard. We recently sat down with Ramirez to talk about her experiences doing community service, being a member of ROTC and the National Guard, as well as being a student-athlete at Appalachian State.
Tell us about yourself.
"I'm from southern California, Santa Ana area. I'm a junior here, and my dad is in the military so I've lived everywhere in the United States to Germany. I really don't have a set home, but I'll call North Carolina my home since I've lived here for about six years now."
What made you decide to play basketball at Appalachian State?
"When I came on my recruiting visit, the people here, the players and the coaches, were real down to earth, and the way they presented App. I had fun on my visit. It felt like home when I came here, so that's why I committed here."
The team has been involved in a lot of community service projects. Can you tell me more about those?
"We do a lot. We started it more last year with the new coach (Darcie Vincent) coming in. We go from working clinics with elementary girls, and we go to hand out food. We work with the freshmen coming in. We help them move in. Anything we can do, we just give back to the community."
What is your favorite part about doing community service with your teammates?
"Everything's fun because our team is just so goofy; whatever we do, we make the best out of it. It's great to be able to give back to the community that supports us and helps us in so many ways."
Do you have a favorite memory, maybe working with the clinics or helping the freshmen move in, that was funny or memorable?
"Probably working with the elementary kids; we do clinics, and we'll go out there when they have fairs, and we'll dance with them and have a fun time. We can tell they're having a good time because they joke around with us."
How have your experiences influenced your play on the court?
"It's helped me out. We work with our teammates, and we get to know our teammates more, so I get to know them more, and I'll understand them more on the court. It just helps you out overall."
Individually, how has it helped you in the classroom?
"It helps me focus more and understand that I need to do better in the classroom. Where I'm at now is because of what the community has helped me become."
What would you say to other student-athletes who are considering community service?
"They should get more involved in it. It only takes one second to change somebody's life. By doing something like that they can make a big impact on at least one person's life."
You are involved in ROTC and also a member of the National Guard. What have those experiences taught you about yourself?
"That I can go above and beyond because you go through so much with basketball and working out. Then National Guard puts you into a whole other level with all the activities they have you do and the mental state you have to be in. It prepares you for a lot, and it just shows you what you're capable of doing."
How has being in ROTC and the National Guard influenced your desire to serve the community through projects that the team does?
"It has a good impact because obviously it's a choice I made to help serve my country. It helps me build upon that. I just want to keep helping the community any way I can."
How are you able to find a balance? You're in ROTC, the National Guard, you're a student-athlete. How do find that balance?
"That was the toughest one because I have to balance. I have to talk to my ROTC cadre. I have to talk to my coaches. We have to sit down. We have to work out a schedule that I'll be able to balance both. That's probably the toughest thing to do, but I've been able to work it out."
What have you found is the most challenging part of that balance, like time, or amount of work?
"It's the time and the effort that I'm able to put in. Sometimes I feel like I can't put all of my effort into both of them. It seems like I can only give about 80 to one and 20 to the other, or something like that, just the effort amount. It frustrates me because I want to be able to give 100 percent to all I put out there."
You were honored as the best PT out of the entire company at National Guard Advanced Individual Training you were involved in this summer. What did that award mean to you?
"It meant a lot. The company has about 200-plus soldiers. It's males and females, so I was the highest out of males and females. I was very happy about that knowing that I worked hard to get that, and I was able to outscore the male at that."
How would you compare your training as a student-athlete to the training you have been through for ROTC and the National Guard?
"Physically they're both the same. You have to be physically fit to do both of them. As far as the National Guard, it works you mentally. They put you through so much stuff with the type of weather, the terrain, everything. You just have to stay mentally stable. If not, they'll just break you down. It's just tough."
Your dad is a member of the armed forces. How did he influence your involvement?
"He was a big influence. Obviously I grew up around it, and seeing him, he was happy doing it. It had a big influence just growing up around it, and I liked it. Ever since I knew what it was, I knew I wanted to be in the military."
You are majoring in criminal justice. How do you plan to use your education, as well as your training in ROTC and the National Guard, after graduation?
"I plan to go active once I graduate, so I will become a military police officer since that is what I trained to do this summer. I'll use what I've learned in school with the military police."
Do you have a favorite memory while you've been here at Appalachian, as a student or an athlete?
"The most recent was when we were in the SoCon Tournament, and we made it to the second round for the first time in a while, the way we came back, and we beat Furman. That's probably the most memorable."
What is the best part about being a student-athlete at Appalachian State?
"Just being able to represent Appalachian State and the women's basketball team; what we're trying to do on the team is show the new generation that we're trying to bring up Appalachian women's basketball, and show them that sports at Appalachian are very good."
What is the best part about being a student-athlete in the Southern Conference?
"It's good because we're not the top dog obviously in sports, but we're not the underdog. We're right in the middle, and when we play teams in the top dog conferences, if one of the teams in the SoCon beats them, it shows what the SoCon is capable of doing in sports."
2009-10 SoCon Spotlight Featured Student-Athletes
Appalachian State - Sam Ramirez - Basketball (view article and interview)
College of Charleston - Emily Morgan - Soccer (view article and interview)
The Citadel - Lauren Fleming - Track & Field (view article and interview)
Davidson - Bryant Barr - Basketball (view article and interview)
Elon - Steven Kinney - Soccer (view article and interview)
Furman - Jessica Preeg - Tennis (view article and interview)
Georgia Southern - Jake Ware - Baseball (view article and interview)
UNC Greensboro - Emily Akiyama - Softball (view article and interview)
Samford - Patrick Wells - Track & Field (view article and interview)
Chattanooga - Maria Juliana Loza - Golf (view article and interview)
Western Carolina - Kristen Feemster - Basketball (view article and interview)
Wofford - Jordan Ingman - Football (view article and interview)