bowrosen is majoring in Business Administration
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.
In this Scholar-Athlete Spotlight, we are featuring Panther Volleyball player Victoria Bowrosen, a graduate student who is majoring in Business Administration.
Originally from Port Orange, Florida, Victoria transferred to Tech following four years at Flagler College and played in ten matches before suffering a season-ending injury.
During her time at Flagler, Bowrosen was named to the PBC Presidential Honor Roll Silver Scholar three times and a Bronze Scholar once.
Following the 2021-22 school year, Victoria was a recipient of the D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award. In addition, she was named to the Sunshine State Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll following the 2022 season.
Having the unique perspective of playing just one year at Florida Tech, we sat down with Victoria to ask her what her time as a Panther has been like away from the volleyball court and what she has planned next.
■ What’s your major at Florida Tech and why did you choose this? Is it something that you’ve always wanted to do?
I’m getting my master’s in business administration, and I’ve really enjoyed that. I actually graduated from Flagler College with a double major in mathematics because math is cool, but also business administration. So, I’ve known I’ve wanted to do something in the business world for probably six plus years and definitely since high school.
■ After four years at Flagler, what was it about Florida Tech that made you want to be here?
Well, they didn’t offer any master’s programs at Flagler and I definitely always wanted to get my master’s and so I was when I was looking, I knew it was going to be my last year of eligibility and all I wanted out of it was, you know, get the degree, then also have fun and compete.
So, looking at different colleges, I knew that this conference was very, very competitive for volleyball, which definitely appealed to me but I would say more than anything, I just wanted to have fun.
When I came on my visit here, I was instantly sold because I met [former Head Coach] Ashlee [Crowder] I met the team, the girls, they were just the most amazing group, they were so positive.
I loved their character, what they believed in, what they wanted to build the program into. I immediately fell in love, and I knew it was home for me.
How do you plan to use your degree after graduation?
I don’t have anything set in stone right now for what I’m going to do but whatever it is, it’s going to be involved around people.
I love people, and I love helping other people, and it brings me so much joy but I would say long term I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. My whole family, they’re full of teachers, it’s been really cool firsthand to see how their impact has affected other people.
I mean, people will come up to us in the grocery stores and just say ‘oh my gosh, you’ve changed my life!’ and if I’m able to give a fourth of the love and passion that my family has given to others, it would be great.
■ What are some of the exciting projects that you’ve been able to work on in classes here?
I just started being a research assistant for Dr. [Jonathan] Reed and that’s really cool because I’ve been able to go out into the field and talk to managers, supervisors, and leadership positions, and I’ve gotten to see what they like and I give them a survey, we interact and that’s been really cool because I haven’t had that experience before.
■ Volleyball season usually starts almost as soon as students return from summer break and then goes for nearly three months with plenty of road trips and practices in between, how do you keep everything balanced?
Time management is a huge part of being a student-athlete for any sport. The nice part of it is that you’re never alone. I’ve been a student-athlete forever, and I’ve definitely had to learn through trials, what works, and what doesn’t work.
If there’s a 15-minute break, we’re not doing anything, doing some homework, or studying, but it can feel almost overwhelming at times. But the nice thing is like I said earlier, you’re not alone.
What you’re going through, everyone else is going through, and there’s almost like a bubble of support that we all have, which is really nice. So, you feel like you have the support to be able to do it and succeed.
■ 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?
It’s taught me so much, you can learn so much from sports. You can learn about communication with people, that’s a huge thing that will take you far in life because in sports you talk to every certain type of person.
People will respond well to some things, but other people don’t, and you get to learn how to just interact with people. As I said, time management is crazy, you have to be able to manage your time to be successful in anything that you do.
You can’t start a 15-page paper the night before it’s due or you can’t try to get into shape for preseason the day before it starts. So, I think volleyball has taught me that you need just to prioritize things and just be in the present moment.
■ What advice would you give to an athlete coming to Florida Tech that has an interest in Business Administration?
I’d say do it, I really haven’t been here crazy long, but I’ve really enjoyed my experience. Everyone that I’ve met has just been so kind and really just wants you to succeed and the classes are small, which I really like because you get personal relationships with the professors.
That definitely helps as a student-athlete because you’re missing class for practices or you’re showing up late or you have games. So, having that relationship really helps you and you really get to know them well and they want you to do well and so they will help you in any way you can if you ask for it.
■ What have you enjoyed the most about your time at the volleyball program?
Definitely the girls, they’re the best humans I’ve ever met.
They bring such joy to my life and they’re funny and they keep things light, while also they’re competitive, they’re hungry, we want to be better and it’s a really great environment to be a part of. I’m really glad that I get to be a part of something that’s going to be really cool and already is.
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