Florida Tech Panther Scholar-Athlete Spotlight Recognizes Basketball Player Kyandra Poitier

Poitier is majoring in Healthcare Management

Being a scholar-athlete at Florida Tech takes an incredible amount of hard work and dedication to excel both in the classroom and on the field. Panther women’s basketball player Kyandra Poitier, a graduate student who is majoring in Healthcare Management, joins us for a new edition of Scholar-Athlete Spotlight. (Florida Tech image)

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Being a scholar-athlete at Florida Tech takes an incredible amount of hard work and dedication to excel both in the classroom and on the field. Panther women’s basketball player Kyandra Poitier, a graduate student who is majoring in Healthcare Management, joins us for a new edition of Scholar-Athlete Spotlight.

Originally from West Palm Beach, Florida, Kyandra made the journey to Florida Tech from Palm Beach State College. This season, she’s been a regular in the Panther starting lineup while contributing 7.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

Following the 2022-23 season, Poitier received NJCAA All-Academic Second Team honors.

Kyandra joined us to talk about what she wants to get out of her major and how she makes it all work.

■ Tell us a little bit about your major here at Florida Tech, what made you choose it?

So, I major in business and healthcare management. What made me get into it was my Bachelor’s was in Human Services and when it was time to choose which specialization I wanted to go into, I chose healthcare management because I knew I wanted to be in a leadership position or a management role, but it was the closest to human services that I could get.

■ What do you want to do with that major once you’ve graduated?

I still have one more year left, so I’m kind of putting it on the back burner for right now. But I do know that I’m using the classes that I’m taking now to see which career path I want to take, whether it’s working in a hospital or maybe to work more in a smaller setting, but I still don’t know yet.

■ What was it about Florida Tech that made you want to be here?

What made me choose Florida Tech was the successful graduation rates. I have a fear of failure, so to see a school with such success in academics, it really helped me make the firm decision.

Also, the diversity here is amazing, the cafeteria food here is probably one of the best that I’ve had. And obviously the women’s basketball coaching staff was amazing, they played a big part in me coming here.

■ What’s something from your classes that you didn’t know about your major before?

Me personally, I actually had never took a business class before starting my master’s here. One thing that I took from my courses is that I didn’t know how big the scope of management was. So, once I started the course and I saw that there were plenty of different types of management styles and how that correlates to the type of people you end up managing, that was something that was a big eye-opener for me.

■ Is there a teammate or fellow athlete who you’ve become study buddies with?

I was lucky enough to have one other graduate student on the team with me, and that’s Liv [Stephens]. She’s in most of my classes with me and she’s also a business major. So, we ended up being each other’s partners for most projects in class.

■ What are some things you need to get the most out of study time? Do you have a playlist or need to be by yourself in a room?

What works for me is to be in a public setting with other people. Because if I’m at home by myself, I’d probably fall asleep or end up slacking or taking more breaks than actually studying.

So I try to come to the Clemente Center, go to the Starbucks or go to PDH and try to do it while eating breakfast or lunch, because I need to be around people to feel productive rather than being at home.

■ How has being a collegiate athlete prepared you for what you’re doing now and what do you take from the court that you apply to your studies?

Yes, even from middle school until now, leadership has kind of always been the position I’ve been put in. From middle school to high school, I was a captain, so I had to either be vocal and lead by example vocally or visually for my teammates.

And now it helps with my courses, because when we have a group project, it’s either you have to be a leader or somebody who takes instruction. So, it kind of helps me be more vocal with my classmates, with how vocal I am with my teammates on and off the court.

■ What advice would you give to an athlete coming to Florida Tech that has an interest in Healthcare Management?

One thing I will say is do not procrastinate. I still do but you shouldn’t (laughs)! It will not do anything but stress you out, so if you can do your work on time, do it on time and get it done. I strongly suggest doing it ahead of time, so you have more free time.