Helping our student-athletes succeed

Kollyn Weimer is a biology student on the premed track. She’s also a member of the rowing team. She’s now back home with her family in Sidney, Nebraska.

It’s the first question everyone is now obligated to ask: How ya holdin’ up?

It’s been a weird adjustment period. I have three younger siblings, all home from school. And it’s fun, we’re all back together again.

How have online classes been? 

I’m not a very good online learner. I would much rather be in class. They’re going alright, as good as they could be. 

You’re on the rowing team. 

I am, but I was in a car accident in the beginning of semester and wasn’t able to row. So I wasn’t on the trip with the team over spring break. I left for spring break not realizing I was saying goodbye to everybody. 

What have you been up to? 

I’ve gone on lots of bike rides. My littlest sister, who is 6, just learned how to ride a bike without training wheels, so she is obsessed with bike rides. So I’ve been joining her.

Also, I love reading and I’ve missed it because I can’t do very much reading for pleasure at school. I’m now reading a couple different books. I’m rereading “Eragon.” And I’m restarting the “Harry Potter” series and reading a book called “Hunting Jack the Ripper.” It’s really good

And Snapchat, of course, is wonderful. I’m keeping in touch with my friends that way. 

And family life is going well?

I think my parents are really striving for a sense of normalcy, and everybody in my house is, too. It almost feels like we’re on vacation and nothing is happening. We’re all together all the time. 

You’re premed. 

I’m premed. 

What do you want to be?

I’m hoping to be a neonatologist. It’s a lot of schooling, but it’s something I’m really passionate about. 

Why do you want to be a neonatologist? 

I had a twin sister who had a genetic birth defect, and the neonatologists who worked with her and my family, they were just amazing people who we’ve kept in contact with. I admire them a lot and the work they do. 

On top of that, I’m kind of an ADHD personality, and neonatology is a specialty where you get the newness and excitement and privilege of having patients come in with things you’ve never encountered before. It’s never the same thing twice. You get a lot of patients coming through the door, and sometimes you’re with them over a long period of time. So you’re getting to build relationships. It’s a good mix of an emergency room and pediatric setting. 

As someone on the premed track, how does this crisis make you feel about the prospect of entering the health care field?

It’s difficult because I’ve watched a lot of people I know and care about who are being affected by this. The family I nanny for, their dad is a surgeon, and he’s living in an apartment on his own right now because he has a patient with coronavirus, and he doesn’t want to infect his kids. 

If you asked me at a base level, Why do I want to be a doctor?, it’s because I want to help people. I know that I will have to give up a lot to do that, years in the workforce, and it can put a strain on a marriage and delay having kids. But it’s something I’m really passionate about. I know it’s difficult. But somebody needs to do it, and that somebody might as well be me.

And I have a great support system. My family’s great. My boyfriend is great. They are really supportive of me wanting to do this. 

For me, the pandemic has been another level of motivation because I want to be the person on the front lines. And I want to be the person who is saving people. I keep watching everything that people are doing, and I’m just awe-inspired by not only how strong they are at work but in dealing with everything at home and in their community. 

How is Creighton helping you to become the physician you want to be?

The thing I wanted for school was a place where I could do what I wanted and didn’t feel like I was being overlooked. And that’s what I’ve found in Creighton.

The end of my freshman year, I got a biology spot in a research lab, and for a year now I’ve been working in the lab. Our faculty are not only great advisers in terms of biological research but also in life advice. 

I don’t think I would have gotten that anywhere else. I have faculty at Creighton who don’t just care about me as a student. They care about me as a person. They have taken the time to understand what I want to do with my life, and they are helping me get there. 

Having such supportive professors and staff, that’s preparing me to to do what I want to do and explore a lot of different avenues.

When we’re all back on campus, what’s the first thing you’re going to do?

Find my friends and give them a hug. The worst part of this for me was I didn’t get to say goodbye to anyone. I’m a very emotional person. My goodbyes are very heartfelt. (Laughs) I was robbed of that opportunity. 

I feel so bad for our rowing seniors. All of our teams in athletics are close. They all hang out with each other. One of the things that makes the rowing team very unique is we always have a competition the week after finals, and we’re there on the day of graduation. 

So the coaches put together their own graduation ceremony for the rowers. The seniors’ parents are reading the prayers, and they’re giving speeches. The head coach tells a story about each graduating senior and presents them with a necklace. It’s an awesome, heartfelt experience for your team and your family. It’s something I’m looking forward to when I graduate. 

I’m sad for the seniors who won’t get that experience this year.  We’re going to try and do a senior night on Zoom, but it won’t be the same. It will be OK, though.