Florida Tech Scholar-Athlete Spotlight Recognizes Volleyball Player Kari Voelstad Bogen

Voelstad Bogen is majoring in Computer Engineering

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. We caught up with Panther volleyball libero Kari Voelstad Bogen, a sophomore who is majoring in Computer Engineering, for this 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.

We caught up with Panther volleyball libero Kari Voelstad Bogen, a sophomore who is majoring in Computer Engineering, for this edition of Scholar-Athlete Spotlight. Transferring to Tech in the spring of 2022 from Wingate after making the trek to the States from Sola, Roagland, Norway, Kari made quite the first impression in Crimson and Gray.

During her debut season, Kari earned All-SSC Freshman Team honors thanks in part to 539 digs, the sixth most in a season by a Panther. In addition, following the season, she would be named to the Sunshine State Conference Commissioner’s and Florida Tech Athletic Director’s Honor Roll with a 4.0 GPA!

With SSC play just underway for volleyball, Kari joins us to talk about everything that’s gone into her time as a student at Florida Tech and what she wants to for a career.

■ There are many engineering majors at Florida Tech but you chose the computer engineering route, what made you want to be in that field?

I was a business major at old school, but then when I transferred I had the opportunity to try something new and I was thinking about doing computer science and computer engineering, because I’ve thought about doing that ever since high school, I know it’s an up and coming field and I’ve always been curious to understand how certain things work and figure out how I can help other people. And

I kind of randomly ended up in computer engineering instead of computer science, but I’ve loved it and it’s a great way to have a lot of opportunities with what I want to do after college because I still don’t really know exactly what I want to do.

■ When it came to transfer schools, what was it about Florida Tech that made you want to be here?

So, [our previous coach] reached out to me and told me great things about the place and how the program was under kind of a rebuild and wanted to be established in the Sunshine State Conference as a team that can be reckoned with and when I checked out the school and I saw the beautiful location, beautiful campus, all the different programs they had, and they actually had that opportunity for me again to pursue something in the computer field. I was just so ready to go and experience Florida and Florida Tech.

■ Seeing that you’re still relatively new to computer engineering, what’s something you’ve learned at Florida Tech about your field that you found interesting?

So, with computer engineering, you have the software part and the hardware part. So, I feel like you get a deeper understanding of both fields, not just like one where computer science focuses generally more on the software part. I didn’t know that well, how much both areas went into depth and I really enjoy that I get to do a bunch of different things.

Because then I know I’ll have different skills that will enable me to do lots of different things, so that I’m not just stuck in a sort of routine.

■ Volleyball has their season start almost as soon as students return in August with some early road trips and a lot of practices, how do you keep everything balanced so that you don’t fall behind right away?

A lot of it is time management. I always try to communicate early with my professors, ‘Hey, I’m on the volleyball team, I’ll be traveling around’ and try to establish a good relationship with them so that I can get the help that I need.

Also, I really focus on staying disciplined and working ahead and plan a lot so that I know I have l to complete stuff early before I leave or set aside time while we travel. I tend to prefer to do it before I go and be ahead instead of falling behind.

■ 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?

I think a big part of it is just being a really good team player. We have group projects and I think it’s important to build a network, work hard, have that discipline to be able to do everything and have that mentality of never give up and keep trying and trying. Because in the end if you just keep on going and work hard, you’re gonna get to where you want to be.

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

I would say be curious, be open minded. Get to know your professors, they can help you. Stay curious, don’t be afraid to ask questions, because maybe someone else is wondering but if no one asks the question, you won’t really know and just be ready to be disciplined.

You’ll have a lot on your plate, so time management is also a really vital skill that you need to have but it’s a really great experience.

■ What’s something you’ve done in the classroom that you’re most proud of?

It’s something quite recent, I’ve started taking classes that talk about web development. It slowly started getting into how a website is built and we’re working on learning different aspects of that.

I’ve been enjoying that a lot and I could see myself maybe doing something similar to that later because it allows me to be creative and create something. I would love to build something that can help people get a better life somehow.