Friday, November 24, 2023

Part of a regular series:

Throughout the year, GNACsports.com uses this space to profile conference student-athletes who are members of their respective institution's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). In addition to providing feedback on the student-athlete experience, conference and institutional SAAC members also offer input on the rules, regulations and policies that affect student-athlete’s lives on NCAA member campuses.

Name: Kate Cameron
Sport: Track/Cross Country
Institution: Simon Fraser University
Year: Junior
Major: Health Science
Hometown: Nanaimo, BC, Canada

What has been your favorite class and/or professor and why: My favorite class was HSCI 120 which is a sexual health and sexuality class. That class is what made me decide to switch majors from Kinesiology to health science since I was introduced to epidemiology and more specifically epidemiology in sexually transmitted diseases. My professor for that class was an epidemiologist for STDs and discussed her research in the class which I found interesting.

Why did you choose to attend Simon Fraser: I chose to attend SFU because it’s the only Canadian school in the NCAA, which meant that not only do I get to receive an excellent education while staying fairly close to home, but I also get to compete in the NCAA.

Years involved in SAAC: I am in my second year being part of SAAC

What has been the most rewarding about being a part of SAAC: The most rewarding part of SAAC is getting the opportunity to give back to our community and become closer to other student-athletes. I helped to run many bake sales last year to raise money for the local food bank.

What is the most important thing you've learned from balancing the demands of athletics and academics: The most important thing I’ve learned from balancing athletics and academics is to always be kind to yourself. In my first year, I struggled a lot with feeling like I was never doing enough and then realized after my first year that I had done well. Throughout my second year, I made an effort to remind myself that I was doing my best and that was enough.

Most memorable sports-related moment: My most memorable sports-related moment is from my first year when our cross-country team made it to nationals. I got to start in the front row of our team on the start line and I remember being so overwhelmed with the amount of people on the start line and the amount of people there just watching that it brought me to tears. It was such an amazing experience.

My favorite thing about being part of the GNAC and NCAA DII: The community. The GNAC and Dll have such an amazing community of athletes. Everyone I’ve met and competed against has been so kind and genuine.

The best advice I’d give to an incoming freshman: My advice to incoming freshmen would be to be kind to yourself. I wasn’t kind to myself in my first year and that made being a freshman even harder than it already was. The first year of university is a big change and there are going to be struggles, so you should be kind to yourself through those changes instead of tearing yourself down about the little things.

What is the biggest obstacle you have overcome during your collegiate career: I have struggled a lot with anxiety and being a perfectionist throughout my whole athletic career. So not only do I get extremely nervous for races, but I am also really hard on myself in terms of my performances, which doesn’t help my anxiety. To deal with this I’ve started trying to take every race one at a time, every day is different and you’re going to feel different every day. Some days you might feel great and you can set some higher expectations for yourself, and other days you may feel terrible and you just have to take the positives on those days instead of beating yourself up.

Current mentor: My coach Brit Townsend would be my biggest mentor. She’s done so much not only in her coaching career but also in her athletic career as well. She’s such a powerful, and strong leader, and she’s really pushed me to be the best athlete I can be and has always believed in me. She can be tough but is also one of the most caring people I’ve ever met and has gotten me through many difficult times.

What hobbies/passions do you have outside of your sport: I enjoy hiking and spending time with family and friends, running doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for other hobbies though.

One thing that people don't know about me is: I was a competitive figure skater for 14 years starting at the age of 2. I only started track when I was 12, though, I’ve loved running my whole life.

Future goals after graduation: I plan on doing my master’s in public health after graduation and then moving on to work in the field of public health by doing something with epidemiology or ethics.