Admissions | Undergraduate Admissions | Transfer Newsletter | Cost of a Quality Education

Cost of a Quality Education

By: James Tchalemian, Senior

Since childhood, the game of basketball has been Nicole Hudson's passion - and her dream was to play at the Division I level. Growing up, sports were a high priority for her. She attended high school in Redmond, Ore., where she was a multi-sport athlete playing soccer, basketball, and softball. Her athleticism earned her first-team all-conference honors for basketball and softball, as well as conference MVP, and first-team all-state recognition for her dedication to basketball.

By her senior year, she was a seasoned ball player attracting the attention of college recruiters. One of those recruiters was Scott Rueck, head coach of the women's basketball team at George Fox. Unfortunately, as Nicole had dreams of playing Division I ball, she politely turned down Scott's offer to play for him and chose to follow her lifelong dream.

Her ambition led her to St. Francis University in Pennsylvania. "I was so happy to finally be playing basketball at the college level," Nicole says. She worked hard that first year to earn playing time, but she quickly realized that her studies would have to take a back seat to her commitment to basketball. "The school wanted results on the court but not off," she claims. The difficulty of this compromise began to weigh on her, and by the end of the year she had decided not to return to the limelight of her Division I dream.

This was a tough decision for Nicole, yet a necessary one in her mind. Although she had dreamt of this opportunity her whole life, she had now come to the mature realization that the value of a college education was far more important than the opportunity to play in the Division I tournament.

After returning to Oregon, Nicole decided to take time off from basketball to continue her college education at Portland State University. She enjoyed it there but said it wasn't long before she noticed something was missing: she still wanted to play basketball. She decided to come to George Fox after a timely visit from coach Rueck. "What finally sold me on George Fox," Nicole claimed, "was their reputation for excellence (academically) and the trust I had in Scott's style and abilities as a coach."

As for her transition to George Fox, she claims it was smooth and those in the community welcomed her. She quickly found a group of friends, both on the basketball team and off it. The atmosphere is different from her previous schools, but it's exactly what she has wanted. After attending three colleges and having three different experiences, Nicole's priorities have changed, with a quality education on top of her list.

Nicole is happy where she is and very involved, too. She helped her team to a conference championship title this year and will be returning next year as a senior for her final year of college basketball. She is also on the women's golf team, which will embark on its second season. "I have had lots of fun playing golf in addition to basketball," she says.

Nicole has discovered that, even with the loss of her Division I dream, her passion for basketball is just the same. She is scheduled to graduate in spring of 2008 with her degree in Business Marketing and looks forward to entering into the sports marketing field. Nicole's broad college experience has taught her many of life's lessons, the greatest of which is that while passion is good our priorities change as we navigate life's twists and turns. If we survive, we take away many lessons that strengthen us and improve our future.