Indiana University Athletics
National Student-Athlete Day at the NCAA
4/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Juniors Courtney Harnish and Kyndall Merritt and sophomore Makayla Lundin participated in National Student-Athlete Day community outreach activities at the NCAA headquarters last week.
The following are thoughts from Harnish on the experience and below is a video of the three student-athletes talking about the experience.
The NCAA sponsored National Student-Athlete Day was an amazing experience. Kyndall, Makayla and I had the opportunity to spend the day at the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis with many student-athletes from other Indiana colleges and young children from local schools.
We spent the first two hours of the morning doing community service work which involved teaming up with a few athletes and children and working together to package meals through an organization called "Thrive 360". We ended up packaging 23,000 meals in that two-hour time frame which was an amazing feeling. Seeing the young children be able to actively participate in the process and be excited about their service work was motivating for the future.
After eating lunch, the students left and the student-athletes participated in personal development. Led by interns for the NCAA we discussed important topics and issues that come up in the life of student-athletes.
After listening to a few great guest speakers (including Oliver Luck, father of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck) we were put into teams and were sent on a scavenger hunt around the NCAA offices. Through this activity we met numerous NCAA employees and interns and learned all about the history and details of the NCAA.
Overall, I am extremely thankful for the opportunity to go and participate in this event. Being surrounded by other student-athletes from all different schools and divisions who all have similar goals in life was a great feeling. A huge thank you is deserved for the NCAA and their work putting on this event that will hopefully impact the lives of these children for many years.
