Erika Storvick, senior physics and mathematics major, is involved with many organizations and is the president of both Alpha Gamma Delta and Society of Physics Students. The most impressive of all her accomplishments is that she manages to do all of this while also being the midfield player for the soccer team at William Jewell College.
Storvick was introduced to soccer by her parents and started playing when she was only five years old. The idea of pursuing a college career came from her high school coach.
“Not many people from my high school went on to play college ball, so I never considered it too hard until my coach approached me and said if I wanted to play college ball to let him know and he would help me because he thought I was capable. I’m very outdoorsy and love working out, and so the idea of continuing to play soccer sounded amazing to me,” Storvick said.
Having so much on her plate, Storvick’s schedule is tightly packed. With a double major, two different minors and being involved in so many extracurricular activities, time is a precious thing. She says that college sports can be time-consuming but also rewarding, and for that to work, balance and determination are key.
Choosing to embrace all these different activities is ambitious and even kind of scary. Having so many responsibilities is not something everyone can do, but this is just one more example of Storvick’s perseverance.
“There have definitely been times where I wanted to give up… it can be difficult when I get a really busy week where I have things going on with a bunch of different activities and organizations. I’ve always been a very organized person and a good multitasker, so I always knew I could handle a lot on my plate. Those who know me well know I am always creating lists, I am constantly trying to prioritize things, and I am always the planner.”
Storvick said what she loved the most about being on the soccer team was the environment here at Jewell and how understanding her coach was.
“William Jewell College is more of a community than your typical college. With this, coaches, and particularly the soccer coach, are understanding when it comes to other activities and obligations that students have. Another thing I love is that we truly are a family, especially when I came in as a freshman and our head coach was also the head coach of the men’s team. We would all spend every day together. Whether it was practice, lunch, dinner or downtime, the soccer team was always there for each other and we always had fun in everything we did.”
Storvick is ready to graduate Jewell but not to say goodbye to soccer. She is planning on looking into intramurals or a club soccer after graduation. She pointed out the importance of sports in her life, listing the most important lessons she learned as teamwork, striving towards a common goal, sacrifice, comradery, health and vigor of body, determination, expertise, learning to fail but keep going and respect and discipline.
Erika Storvick is a great example for girls everywhere. She is a woman who is smart, strong and ready to face any challenge.