- by Bailey Visingard -
Bailey Visingard is a biomedical sciences major and a member of the women’s cross-country team.
As a third-generation Nazareth student, it was such an honor to win Nazareth’s first cross-country team Empire 8 Championship, since my grandmother attended Naz before it had any sports teams. From the stories I’ve heard, one thing that hasn’t changed is the strong, supportive education and guidance — which helped my grandmother find a passion for speech-language pathology, guided my mother to success as an attorney, and is supporting my goal of a future in medicine. It is an incredible honor to follow in the footsteps of my mother and grandmother. This is my first semester and it has exceeded my expectations. Becoming a student athlete was a concern of mine as a medical undergrad student, but I am fully convinced that I made the right choice.
Managing this new workload has become a priority of mine, so that I can make time for the things I love with the people I love. I knew that studying to earn a spot in the medical field would be hard work, but my overall goal is to make it worth it. The constant support of my teammates and my coaches has confirmed that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. Whether it’s a nine-mile-long run in the summer heat or a quick lunch run turned into a three-hour team conversation in the dining hall, I am constantly solidifying my passion for Nazareth and my sport. This year, we won the Empire 8 Championships for the first time in school history, which made all of my hard workouts and late-night post-practice study sessions instantly worth it. Each one of us plays a vital role as a team member and we all came together to make our school proud. It was truly an amazing experience.
Being a member of a group of strong and powerful women fills me with pride, as I often look to my older teammates as a source of inspiration. I hope to be just like them and help the incoming classes feel as welcome as I have. I was reminded by my grandma that when she went to Nazareth, back when it was a women’s only college, women were not represented in sports and cross country was not an option. If she wanted to watch sports, she would have to walk to a men’s college. I am honored to have the opportunity to run alongside such a positive group of women and recognize my privilege that past women did not have. My mom attended Nazareth after a lot of development, when it was open to all genders. I grew up hearing their stories about how college was the best time of their lives and how Nazareth made them the successful women that they are today, and I couldn’t help but want to be just like them. The Nazareth education my mother received set her up for success in Syracuse law school. She is now an attorney because Nazareth pointed her in the right direction and allowed her to find her passion. My grandmother told me “my biggest thing that I got from Naz was changing my major from wanting to be a High School French teacher to a Speech and Language major. This determined the course of the next 35 years of my life. Naz opened up my eyes to what I really wanted to do”.
Even though I have known what I’ve wanted to do with my future since becoming a member of the New Visions Medical program in high school, hearing my grandma’s success stories at Naz inspired to attend this university. After seeing the skills she gained from her time here and all of her accomplishments I knew I wanted to go to Nazareth. I also decided to go to Nazareth because of their incredible academic programs and their beautiful science facility, Peckham Hall. I would be lying if I said the Golisano Training Center did not influence my decision as well. As I was a student in a local district, Victor High School, I would often compete in races hosted by Nazareth. When I was 13, I ran my first cross-country championship race in the GTC, where I ran my fastest race yet. I was ranked to come in second to last, but I managed to score my first point ever. I knew it was fate. Nazareth was my favorite track to race on in high school and it is a huge privilege to be able to train there every day.
My mother and grandma taught me that even if you do not know your exact path, Nazareth staff will do their best to use your strengths and direct you to where you need to be. Neither my mom nor my grandma knew what they wanted their future occupation to be. Nazareth accepted their major changes and even encouraged them to find their true passions. It all worked out for them thanks to the help of this university. Although I entered this university knowing what occupation I want to have, many of my friends here did not. However, I have seen so many of them already decide what path they want to go down in just the first semester, due to academic advice. I worried all throughout high school about finding a college that would set me up academically for a successful future, knowing that it was a huge decision that would change the course of my life. However, I am now thankful for all of the choices that led me to Nazareth and I am proud to call myself a Golden Flyer. I am my family’s third generation Nazareth student, but through the incredible opportunities we gained through Nazareth, I hope there will be many more generations to come.
