Auburn鈥檚 Dietrich finds her calling
AUBURN, Ala. (BVM) — The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world as we know it. People were forced to stay at home, many local businesses shut down and uncertainty about the world began to grow. Many of the activities people used as a get-away were no longer available. For Jen Dietrich, that get-away was running track.
To describe it as a hobby for Dietrich would be wrong. Dietrich is a senior at Auburn University, running the 400-meter and 800-meter events for Auburn鈥檚 track and field team. Track has helped her get her education while also providing some much needed consistency in her life the past four years.
The Auburn track team, along with almost every other collegiate sports team in America, had it鈥檚 spring season cut short once the virus began to spread in America. It may have felt like at one point sports may never return, but with collegiate and professional sports resuming play, athletes across the country are preparing for their new seasons.
鈥淚t sucks that the season was cut short, but this upcoming season we have the same end goals,鈥� Dietrich said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all about the SEC championship meet!鈥澛�
Dietrich鈥檚 collegiate track career did not start at Auburn. Dietrich spent her freshman year of college at Bucknell University; a small university located in Lewisburg, Pa. While it was cool for Dietrich to be able to compete right away as a freshman, the school wasn鈥檛 what she was looking for in her college experience.聽
鈥淚t was nice to be able to compete right away. We even won the Patriot league championship that year,鈥� Dietrich said. 鈥淚 thought the school was what I wanted, but everything was a little too familiar to my high school experience.鈥�
Dietrich went to a small catholic private school just outside of Philadelphia. While in high school, Dietrich was a stand-out on the soccer team.聽
鈥淢y original goal was to play soccer in college,鈥� Dietrich said. 鈥淚 only started running track to stay in shape for soccer.鈥�
Joining the track team was an excellent decision for the senior, as her high school track coach would change her view on her athletic career. Her coach ran in college at Penn State University and told Dietrich she could run at a division one school if she wanted.聽
鈥淥bviously I love playing soccer,鈥� Dietrich said. 鈥淏ut she (high school track coach) could tell that鈥檚 not what I wanted to do.鈥澛�
After thinking about it and training with her coach, Dietrich changed her mind about her college plans; unfortunately not everyone in her family was too thrilled.
鈥淢y dad said 鈥榳hy don鈥檛 you think about both,鈥欌�� Dietrich said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think he was ready for me to give it up yet.鈥�
While Dietrich eventually got the chance to live out her dream of running track at the collegiate level, she didn鈥檛 know what she should pursue academically.聽
鈥淲hen I got to Bucknell originally, I didn鈥檛 have a major,鈥� Dietrich said. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 until the end of my first semester that I had an idea of what I wanted to do.鈥澛�
Dietrich was enrolled in a creative writing class her freshman year of college. Dietrich claimed she was a terrible writer in high school and was dreading the curriculum for that class. The class would turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
鈥淥n all the assignments we had in that class, I kept writing about sports,鈥� Dietrich said. 鈥淢y professor told me I need to be in a sports writing class.鈥澛�
Dietrich took her professor’s advice and tried to sign up for a sports writing class, only to find out Bucknell did not have a sports journalism major. To become a sports writer, Dietrich would have to transfer schools.
鈥淥ver spring break me and my mom took a road trip to all the different schools I was interested in,鈥� Dietrich said. 鈥淚t sucks because we had a track meet that week and I couldn鈥檛 tell my teammates where I was going because I hadn鈥檛 told anyone at the school I wanted to transfer.鈥�
When looking at schools to transfer too, Dietrich looked into schools with sports journalism programs and listened to what students and faculty said about the program. After learning more about sports journalism programs at different schools around the country, Dietrich decided to transfer to Auburn where she would be able to live out both her dreams.聽聽
鈥淚鈥檝e loved everything about Auburn,鈥� Dietrich said. 鈥淭he academics, the on-campus activities, running track; it鈥檚 all been great.鈥澛�
Dietrich is on track to graduate in the spring and is currently doing an internship with Auburn athletics communications. Dietrich’s goal after college is to move to a large city and get a job in sports media.
鈥淎thletes are always reminded that sports aren鈥檛 forever,鈥� Dietrich said. 鈥淏ut if I can find a way to be a sideline announcer or write the feature 海角社区, that鈥檚 how I can make sports forever.鈥�
