On May 2, MSM senior Evelyn Nick shared her intent to continue her academic and athletic pursuits at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio. While she thanked coaches, family and friends for joining her as she signed on to swim with the “Barons,” Evelyn says the offer to join the college team just tipped the scale leading up to her decision to attend a Catholic University.
“Everyone just so loves their faith,” said Evelyn, describing the Catholic environment on campus, “and I really wanted to be surrounded by other peers excited about their faith because it will push me next year to be better in my faith.”
As a Eucharistic Minister at MSM and a member of the MSM Campus Ministry Team as well as the Youth Advisory Council for the Diocese of Little Rock, Evelyn said that she was impressed by the number of daily masses available to the students at Franciscan, the numbers of students in line for Reconciliation and the Catholic ethics incorporated in the academic teaching. Evelyn plans to major in biology and said the focus on ethics in the science classes was important for her and anyone interested in going pre-med. When she discovered an opportunity for her to join the swim team at the Catholic university, she knew she had found a place to call home.
“Swimming is my one thing I really love doing, and I know that if I’m stressed, I love to go swim and get my stress out,” said Evelyn. “It’s relaxing for me, so I’m looking forward to having that outlet, with the stress of college, to be able to relax while at the same time I’m working hard.”
Evelyn has been swimming since she was four years old, competitively since the age of six, and she swims freestyle and butterfly for the Belles swim team. She has been a member of the Mount St. Mary swim team all four years. This year Evelyn and her fellow Belles relay members qualified for state in the Girls 200 Yard Freestyle Relay and the Girls 400 Yard Freestyle Relay.
Evelyn said she has learned a lot about herself in leadership positions at Mount St. Mary. Not only was she one of two seniors to lead the Belles swim team this year, but she also held leadership roles as president of both the MSM Latin Club and Mu Alpha Theta math honor society. In leading the swim team, she stressed how a good attitude plays an important part in helping her team meet their goals, and while she’ll be one of the new team members next year, she says she’s excited to take what she’s learned about herself at Mount and apply it to the Barons team.
Evelyn said, “I feel like I’ll have a lot more respect [for the senior members of the team] and I feel like I’ll be a lot more likely to go off of their example because they know what they’re doing.”