Emery Sandoval

Aspiring athletic trainer Emery Sandoval ('19) chose Briar Cliff for its beautiful small campus and its community atmosphere. Briar Cliff also gave her the opportunity to continue her athletic career in soccer, where she grew as a person and player while developing lifelong friendships.

Though she plans to take a few more classes after graduating to prepare for graduate school, Emery remains grateful for the hands-on learning she gets as part of the applied health and exercise sciences and Spanish programs at Briar Cliff. She said she knows that these experiences will greatly benefit her throughout her academic and professional career.

While her passion lies in the field of athletics, Emery's favorite project is actually a service project she participated in as part of January term during her freshman year. The class she took created warm shelters for stray cats and volunteered at Noah's Hope where they helped (and played) with the animals waiting to be adopted.

Emery was drawn to Briar Cliff because of its caring community, embodied by people like Jenni Hanni-Schmitz. "She helped me a lot these past years by always being there when I needed advice, not only on school but also about life in general," she said. "Mrs. Hanni-Schmitz is someone I feel I can always count on for anything."

Emery also found a community she could rely on and learn from as a member of the soccer team. She was grateful for the opportunity to work on her own teamwork skills with teammates who were supportive on and off the pitch.

As she enters her senior year, Emery shared words of advice for new and current BCU students. "Be involved as much as you can, you won't regret it," she said. "And enjoy your time at Briar Cliff because it passes by way too fast!"