This is the fourth of a series of stories on award winners from the 2016 Seattle University Athletics Awards Show. Stay tuned to GoSeattleU.com throughout the summer for the remaining stories in this series.
When head coach James Finley arrived in Seattle in spring 2013, it was clear that there would be a new culture and vision for the Seattle University volleyball team – one of service and giving back to the community.
No one embraced this task more than Iris Ivanis, who now serves as the team’s unofficial service leader.
Newcomer Kahle Elliott tells of how easy Ivanis made the transition to the team and to finding community service.
“We get weekly texts like ‘Here are your options, go do your service hours’. She makes it really easy honestly. I don’t know what I’ll do when she graduates, I’ll actually have to find things on my own like an adult.”
To which Maja Stojanovich laughingly adds, “We’ll have to ask her from Croatia.”
Ivanis and Stojanovich are two of the team’s eight from outside the United States and for them, community service was a newer concept to learn upon arriving at Seattle U.
“Back home, we don’t put a lot of emphasis on volunteering generally,” Ivanis says of her home country. “It’s becoming more popular but still not big as it is here, especially at a place like Seattle University. Luckily fall quarter of my freshman year, I had to have service learning hours and started to understand that this is part of being at Seattle University and how committed the university is towards community service.”
Freshman Cecilia Wu agrees, coming to school knowing Seattle U was Jesuit Catholic but not fully understanding the mission and values this represents until stepping onto campus and becoming a part of the volleyball team.
Some team members gravitate towards service within the Seattle U athletics department and community while others prefer getting outside of campus and into the larger Seattle community.
For Elliott, the opportunity to get out gives her more appreciation for the accommodations afforded her on Seattle U’s campus.
“It’s cool to take yourself out of our community and remember we are in the middle of Seattle where there’s a large homeless population. You don’t realize – we have a meal plan here, we’re housed, we’re fed, we’re clothed. You walk a couple blocks down and you’re in a very poor area and you wouldn’t think of that otherwise. It’s important to get out of your comfort zone, even though it’s kind of scary at first, it’s really, really rewarding. You don’t realize how much you really have until you separate yourself from your community.”
Ivanis, on the other hand, most enjoys volunteering for events within the athletics department as a way to “make good relationships with other teams and coaches”.
Stojanovich and Martina Samadan agree, adding “I like helping out other teams and then seeing them help out for our stuff. It’s a cool way to see the community we have here in athletics” and “I like supporting other student-athletes and I like when they support us.”
Add to that - involvement at nearby Bailey Gatzert school, at the Red Tie and Meet the Redhawks fundraisers, Boys and Girls club, food banks, and student government involvement, to name a few.
Stojanovich adds that getting out into the community can make you realize “what kind of platform you have as a student-athlete”.
All agree that a significant perk of service within the athletics department is the relationships and bonds created between teams.
“It’s really fun,” Ivanis says with a smile. “We have the swimmers that come out and yell for us while wearing their speedos. It’s really awesome and then we go to swim meets and create new friendships with each other.”
Elliott’s involvement both in service as well as SAAC and Student-Athlete Fellowship propels her to continue fostering community within the athletic department.
“I think that’s one of the reasons I’ve wanted to go to so many things and support other teams because at those meetings, we get to hear about each other’s weeks. It makes you want to go support them and then they’ll probably come support you too. We’re such a small community that every win every team has – we take pride in it.”
Wu echoes the importance of integration both into the student-athlete and non-athletic communities at Seattle U.
“When you go support others, they realize you’re there and it creates those bonds and makes you realize we should all support each other.”
The team had a unique opportunity earlier this year to go on a two-day retreat in Lake Stevens. The trip, with no phone service, was admittedly awkward at first but was a bonding time and a key turning point for the team.
“It was really good, we got to be in nature and be fully aware of what’s going on around us, not focusing on our phones and who’s calling us or who needs us,” said Ivanis.
Wu agrees, “It’s a very precious time we all had.”
Stojanovich gave a glowing review of the retreat with a small warning: “If teams are going to do it, they shouldn’t go there and not take it seriously. The experience will happen if you invest yourself; if you go and you’re not really interested and don’t care, it won’t be a good experience.”
She continues, “I was really surprised that our team went all out and everyone opened up. In the beginning, it was a little iffy, but by the end, we were all just crying and laughing together.”
For Elliott, the retreat was a metaphorical jump into the deep end of team bonding, going on the retreat after being on campus just about a week.
“I had no idea who these girls were and I’m like ‘Ok great, I have to go pour my heart out to these people I don’t know’. But I just kind of sat back and watched them and it was the best possible way I could think of to become part of the team. Everyone talked about their struggles and what they needed to improve on and it was just a very open dialogue. At first it was a little uncomfortable but then everyone relaxed and didn’t worry about anything else and were just very open.”
Though they didn’t do one single moment of community service in order to win an award, it certainly feels nice and propels them to do more as a team.
“We absolutely did not expect it, as you could see from the looks on our faces and the beautiful speech,” Ivanis quips. “I completely blanked out when I gave the speech, but I think it’s really nice. We just go above and beyond because we enjoy it and it all amounts to good things. For me, it gave me a little more motivation to do the same thing again having a little plaque that says ‘Seattle University Athletics Mission Award Winner.”
Elliott agrees, “I didn’t even know there was an award for this honestly, so I don’t think any of us ever thought we’re doing these hours to win this award. It’s just something you have to do if you’re on the volleyball team. You need to get service hours and you need to be in the community. It’s not really an option – it’s part of the culture of the team.”
As the team wraps another year and looks forward to the 2016 season, they also say goodbye to senior Martina Samadan who concludes her years at Seattle University with the following: “No it’s not going to be easy, but when it comes to an end, you’ll realize you enjoyed every part of your experience. It was worth it.”