Hard work. Determination. Challenging. These are all words that are often associated with success. And many times these are words describing actions that go unseen from the public, with people striving to reach success away from the public view. It is often the behind the scenes acts that propel people to success. And one needs look no further than Alvernia University's Collin Welterorth as an example.
Collin is a freshman outside hitter on the Alvernia men's volleyball team, a program that is in its first year of existence. For Collin and the rest of the Crusaders they spent the previous months behind the scenes, working their way towards something that was brand new; putting a Crusader team on the court. And that hard work during the summer and fall has paid off with the Crusaders jumping out to an 8-4 record early this season.
"Being part of a brand new program is incredible," said Welteroth. "Each day during preseason we walked through the gym doors, knowing that the day was going to be tough but realizing that the team was making history playing a sport we all know and love. It took a little while to adjust to this team because it's a whole different environment from that of other established programs. Most schools have trained upperclassman that can lead the way having had the college experience needed. However our team didn't have much of that. Coach did an awesome job, recruiting some really great players around the team that she knew would mesh well to create a family or brotherhood."
To overcome the lack of collegiate playing experience, and the unknown of playing together against competition, the Crusaders knew they had to work extra hard in the off-season. Spending hours in the gym and weight room, away from the spotlight, with only themselves to push each other.
"Over the off-season we put in a ton of work. We were given workout programs that we were trusted to do on our own, along with some team workouts. We played for hours upon hours on our own because we knew that if we wanted to jump start this program in the right ways we had to work harder than ever before. Lucky for us, we also have an awesome coaching staff. Coach Deb and Coach Jon have seen the highest levels of volleyball and know what it takes to get to those levels of play."
In addition to hours of training and working out with his volleyball teammates, Collin worked for the Alvernia athletic department during the fall. Again he spent his time behind the scenes, working the jobs that often go unnoticed but are key to a successful event.
"During women's volleyball matches I work the table and keep stats. For soccer and field hockey I would typically run stats and for basketball I think I have done it all. I work the game clock, the shot clock, the scoreboard, stats...It's actually such a great job. I would've gone to these games anyway since I love sports but now I get paid to go!"
However volleyball and the athletic department weren't enough for Collin. He also decided to get involved in other campus activities such as Campus Activities Board, Residence Hall Association, Science Association, intramural sports, and assists in tutoring fellow students in biology.
Collin is a biology major with a chemistry minor and is already preparing for his future and has been accepted into a unique pre-med route.
"There is a fantastic program here with the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine that really grabbed my attention when searching for schools. Anyone can apply to this program before February of their sophomore year. If they choose you, you will receive an interview with this medical school. The interview is the last stage in the process before the final decision is made. If accepted into the program they will hold a seat for the said student until the graduate from Alvernia where they will then move directly into medical school."
The story behind Collin's first step on the path to medical school once again highlights how important the people behind the scenes are. When his sisters tore their ACL's and had surgery it wasn't the doctors performing the surgery that caught Collin's attention but rather then anesthesiologist.
"There has been a history of medical issues in my family, the most recent with my sisters surgeries. I was curious about the medical path so I decided that I wanted to get some shadowing in a surgical unit. I ended up shadowing their surgeon a few times. However, what caught my attention wasn't the surgery, it was the anesthesia that was able to numb the area before they went into surgery, and then put them to sleep during the surgery. It was all very new and interesting. And from what I have seen while shadowing is that no two people react the same to anesthesia which was very interesting. While I am interested in many other occupations in the medical field this is the one that I can see myself continuing in for the rest of my life."
Whether it was the job of the anesthesiologist catching his eye, being the person running around at athletic events while others are focused on the game play, or putting in hours of hard work in the gym without fans to see it; hard work, determination, and the challenge are something that seems to go hand in hand with Collin. But he knows that success doesn't come simply from one workout, one game, or one day but rather from the continued pursuit of success.
"Even now, as we step onto that court each day for practice or games, we know that our work is never done and that with each practice we can only get better, and I think that's the beauty of it. While we may be a new program we have all worked so hard to get where we are and we won't stop pushing. It isn't easy by any means but the results are more than worth the work that is required to be put in."