An A+ volleyball player
Former Bisons star named academic all-star
Romer Bautista, Staff
Earning a 4.50 GPA is never an easy task — just ask anyone who has written a university-level final exam. But earning a 4.50 GPA while being a starter on one of the top volleyball teams in the CIS? That would seem nearly impossible.
Not so for Katie Davidson, the former starting setter for the U of M Bisons women’s volleyball team, who just recently was named as the Canada West female selection of the CIS Desjardins top-eight academic all-Canadians for the 2006-07 school year. Davidson registered a perfect 4.50 GPA in science while working her way towards a general bachelor of science degree.
“I remember when I first started university and playing on the volleyball team, and the topic of being an academic all-Canadian came up. It was always a goal for me, just because I put a lot of pride into my work and school,” says Davidson.
Davidson says that her experiences throughout junior high and high school played a key role in her ability to handle the difficult task of balancing a heavy school course load with the responsibilities of playing on a university varsity team.
“I always was really involved in athletics throughout junior high and high school, and always tried to do my best in school. So, it took a lot of practice then, and I had to bring it in to a different kind of learning in university.”
In addition to the two games played each week, which sometimes can include travelling on the road, and the practices throughout the week, Davidson also participated in the “Bisons Against Bullying” program, assisted in the Bisons outreach program with the Siloam Mission, and worked with the Mini-University program.
Understandably, finding time between all those tasks to complete homework could be a daunting task. “The last couple of years I’ve spent a lot of time in between classes at Tim Hortons, actually,” she says with a laugh.
In addition to her own hard work, Davidson is quick to admit that the Bison Sports program has done a good job in helping its athletes academically.
“The coaches are great, because they are always on top of things, making sure that the student-athletes are feeling comfortable in the classes they are in and can deal with the classes that they are in. I know that the Bison Sports program that we have has tutoring for first-year student-athletes who haven’t yet really gotten hold of the transition.”
Davidson is currently taking the term off. She has nearly completed all of the requirements for a bachelor of science, but would ultimately like to get into the faculty of dentistry.
Despite taking pride in her accomplishments, Davidson admits that there is one thing that she would give up her perfect GPA for.
“I’d take the knock in GPA for a gold medal in the CIS. Not too much of a knock, though. If [my GPA] was like 4.45 and I had a gold medal that would be fine with me.”
Davidson was one of eight students across the country to be honoured with this prestigious distinction. The CIS chooses one male and one female athlete from each of the four regional associations (Canada West Universities Athletic Association, Ontario University Athletics, Quebec Student Sports Federation, and Atlantic University Sport).
Davidson is the 10th Bison athlete to be named as a CIS academic all-Canadian, and the first since Paul Deniset of men’s hockey won the award in 2004-05. The last Bison female to win the award was Nadia Melon of women’s volleyball in the 1998-99 season.
