Nebraska Life Skills... Educating Husker Student-Athletes and Serving Others

Huskers Help Out with Special Olympics

As part of the Big 12 Conference’s community partnership with Special Olympics, many student-athletes have attended service projects during March and April. On March 7, almost 40 student-athletes, including a large showing from women’s cross country and swimming and diving, assisted with an Omaha regional basketball tournament as scorekeepers, referees and motivators. On March 21, the entire men’s tennis team and other student-athletes helped with an aquatics event. A regional basketball tournament for Lincoln-area Olympians on March 28 included many members of the women’s gymnastics and swimming and diving teams offering their support. Lastly, on April 5, 100 Special Olym-pians toured the West Stadium facilities and enjoyed pizza with the Huskers at the Train-ing Table. They were scheduled to finish the day by cheering on Nebraska against the Kansas State baseball team.

The second annual Life Skills Conference was March 8. Student-athletes were divided into groups of approximately 70 and rotated through various locations in West Sta-dium to listen to three speak-ers. Alison Wimmer, program director for the University Alumni Center, teamed up with Campus Police Officer Jim Davis to educate student-athletes on how social net-working sites such as Facebook, Myspace, and LinkedIn can be beneficial to find old friends or to look for job opportunities, but they can also be a setback and tarnish a person’s image and reputation. Representatives from First National Bank spoke about the importance of budgeting, credit scores, savings and spending money wisely in their money management pres-entation. Eddie Brown, a Farmers Insurance agent, and one of the first members of the Teammates program, shared his expertise regarding communication strategies to be used when talking to the public, media, professors and beyond.

Life Skills Conference

Starting this fall, all incoming freshman and transfer stu-dent-athletes will be required to successfully complete a zero-credit life skills seminar. The seminar is a cooperative effort between Husker Life Skills and the College of Education and Human Sciences. Two evening sections of the seminar will be offered on Sunday during the fall with weekly topics including academic integrity, time management, study skills, counseling strategies, relationship issues, community conduct, substance abuse, money, communication strategies, leadership, nutrition and wellness, diversity, social networking and money. Thanks to Dr. Deb Mullen, Associate Dean of the College of Education and Human Sciences, for her persistence in making the Life Skills seminar a reality.

New Life Skills Seminar Slated for Fall Semester

The third annual HERO Leadership Breakfast is sched-uled for Monday, April 27 at 7 a.m. in the West Stadium Club. At least one student-athlete from each team will be honored for their dedicated community service and leader-ship. Selections are made by the Life Skills and Academic staffs with approval from head coaches. In addition to the Student-Athlete Hero Awards, special partnerships and out-reach connections formed dur-ing the past year will be highlighted. Several youth from the community and a former Husker and area early education program will be honored. The annual Gerard Award of Excellence will be presented to one student-athlete with postgraduate aspirations who has also excelled in the community. The inaugural Gerard Award recipient was former football player and current law student Matt Senske.

HERO Leadership Recipients to be honored April 27