Miami Ohio University Athletics
STRAIGHT A TEAM: Amy Raseman
6/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
June 18, 2008
This is the 10th in a series of 16 features about Miami University's brightest student-athletes. Their exceptional academic performance during the recently completed spring semester earned them a spot on the roster of the RedHawks' exclusive Straight A Team. In addition to their rigorous schedules on the athletic fields, each of these individuals earned a perfect 4.0 grade-point average this past semester. Overall, during the 2007-08 academic year, Miami's 500-plus student-athletes earned an impressive cumulative 3.0 GPA in the classroom.
During high school, Miami freshman volleyball player Amy Raseman would typically drive an hour after school to club volleyball practice, before returning home around 9 p.m. to the daunting task of homework. While most freshman have an adjustment period from high school to college, time management and balancing academics and athletics have been the norm for Raseman since high school and there would have been no reason to think that would change when she started at Miami University last fall.
"I am able to balance sports and school thanks to playing club volleyball in high school," Raseman said. "In college, it is similar. I rarely procrastinate because I never have the time!"
During the fall, Raseman redshirted on the volleyball team, giving her time to absorb information and learn from the sidelines. "I was able to learn a lot from watching others develop and grow as players during matches. While watching the coaches, I was able to understand why they made the decisions that they did," Raseman said. "I felt very motivated at practice and matches thinking about my future and that soon I will be on the court."
Despite sitting back and observing on the court in the fall, Raseman excelled off the court in the spring. Raseman earned a 4.0 GPA during the spring semester with a course load that included calculus, microbiology, English, theater and CSA, a computer sciences and systems analysis course.
"I really enjoyed taking a wide range of classes," Raseman stated. "I knew going into it that calculus was going to be my hardest class and only about half the students that started the class finished it. CSA was the only class that I took for my major as I hope to go into business."
While Raseman has been challenged in the classroom, she will be tested for the first time on the volleyball court this upcoming season. For the meantime, Raseman is currently working at a public relations firm and volunteering for Hospice of Northern Illinois, while completing her summer workouts for volleyball as the RedHawks look to return to the NCAA Tournament in 2008.
Name: Amy Raseman Hometown/High School: Barrington, Ill./Barrington Major: Undeclared - Business Spring Semester GPA: 4.0
