By: James Whiteford
Being a college athlete can sometimes be difficult.
The athletes need to focus on school, as well as their sports, all while being good members of their communities.
Camryn Pictor, a member of the Bellarmine women’s soccer team, epitomizes this description and has made quite the impact.
She received the Inspiring Leader Award at the 15th Annual Women in Leadership banquet on March 21. The award is voted on by professors, faculty and Bellarmine alumnae.
Pictor said she is proud to receive the award.
“Receiving the Inspiring Leader Award is something I take with great honor. Many women at Bellarmine before me have done so many wonderful things to help this school and community. To follow in their footsteps is such an honor,” Pictor said.
Her teammates are also proud.
“Proud is an understatement. There is no one more deserving, and it has been an honor to play with her these last four years, and get to know her off the field. I know I have a friend for life in Cam,” Ellie Vandergriff said.
To make a large impact in the community while being a college athlete is not an easy task. Pictor was able to use being a college athlete to build her platform.
“Throughout my four years at Bellarmine, I have played for the Women’s Soccer team. Although this creates a huge time commitment, I also was able to use it as a platform to build from,” Pictor said.
“By using my experiences as a competitive athlete and my ability to be dedicated to work, I was able to do the same in clubs and community work outside of soccer,” she said.
Pictor said she believes her involvement with sports ultimately helped her grow as a person and a leader.
“Being an athlete showed me that through hard work, you can achieve anything you set your mind to. Being able to look back at where I started and how far I’ve come to be a college athlete just proves you can do anything if you want to work hard enough for it,” Pictor said.
“I take these same ideas off the field. In the classroom, I work diligently to get good grades and manage my time through many activities. Sports is a great way to learn leadership skills, even if you aren’t the captain of the team,” she said.
Some of her professors said they, too, are proud of what she has accomplished and are very excited to see what is next from her.
“I am extremely proud of Camryn. I think she has faced the challenges she’s come across with grace. I am really impressed with her growth and perseverance.” Assistant Professor of Education Jessica Ivy said.
“She is going to be a math teacher. Her major is secondary math. And I was a math teacher, and my area is math education. I admire her as an athlete, but our relationship is more on the mentoring side of becoming a teacher. And understanding how to teach math and helping her to pursue that passion,” she said.
Vandergriff said Pictor is a great soccer player and will be an even better teacher.
“Cam is one of the best people I know, and I’m so happy that she is receiving this award, as it perfectly sums up the type of teammate, but more importantly the person, that she is,” Vandergriff said.
Said Pictor: “Many of my teammates congratulated me when I announced that I had won the award. They continually tell me that it is well-deserved and are so proud.”
As her college sports career comes to a close, Pictor said she is prepared to return and continue to play a large part in the Bellarmine community.
“I’m so thankful to receive such an amazing award, and I can’t wait to come back and attend the Women in Leadership Banquet as an alumna in the future,” Pictor said.