Last week, Her Campus WVWC announced the winner of the Twitter Giveaway Contest. Congratulations to Coral Dean, a WVWC freshman from Harrisonburg, Va., who took home a Her Campus-approved gift basket worth over $50!
Coral so kindly agreed to be this week’s Campus Celebrity. I sat down with her to learn more about her athletic endeavors.
Ashley Young: I know you play tennis and swim for our school. Are you a long-time tennis player? How about swimming?
Coral Dean: This is my fifth year playing tennis. I have been swimming summer league since I was nine years old.
AY: How about swimming?
CD: I started a year-round swim program when I was twelve years old.
AY: What athletic goals do you have for the current sport season?
CD: Currently I am in swim season. At the beginning of the season, we sat down with the coaches and set individual goals for our events. I’m a distance swimmer. In high school, the longest distance was the 500 freestyle, but I normally swim the 500 free, 1000 free, and 1650 free since coming to college. Since the 1000 free and 1650 free are newer events for me, it was difficult to set time goals. I would like to continue dropping time in both events throughout the season. My goal for the 500 freestyle is to drop over 20 seconds before conference championships in February.
AY: What made you decide to get involved with these sports?
CD: I always loved being in the water when I was young. My family and I purchased a membership at a local pool and then realized they had a swim team. I decided to sign up. When I got older, I decided to take it a little more seriously. I love swimming because it is both a team and individual sport. As for tennis, a friend and I decided to take some lessons for fun one summer, and I decided to try out for the high school team in the following spring. I made the team that year, but just barely. I worked my way up to the number two seed!
AY: Was coming to WVWC an easy choice?
CD: I visited this campus three times before I made my final decision. I loved the people and the campus; it felt like they really cared about every student. The only difficult decisions was that I am really close to my family and the school is a little farther away than I originally wanted to be.
AY: What most led you to Wesleyan?
CD: I visited WVWC because someone I worked with was a freshman here. I knew I wanted a small campus and a place where I could feel at home.
AY: What’s your favorite thing about our campus?
CD: In addition to playing sports, I’m also a service scholar here at Wesleyan. We had a volunteer camping weekend a few days before this semester started. It was great having the opportunity to spend time with other service scholars and learn how important it is for Wesleyan students to be involved. I volunteer at Union Elementary School every Tuesday, and I love the fact that Wesleyan encourages their students to give back to their community.
AY: When did you learn about Her Campus?
CD: I learned about Her Campus through Twitter. I love following the tweets and reading the articles daily. It helps me stay informed! I love your current #BakeAChange project with She’s the First. Also, of course, I love seeing the Campus Cuties.
AY: Which Her Campus WVWC article has been most memorable to you?
CD: I loved reading Reaching Your Goals. In this article, I love the fact that Diana Nyad never gave up. I believe that all of us need to set goals throughout our entire lives.
Coral sets goals in the pool, on the tennis court, and in the classroom. With so many dynamic things going for her, this girl is one to watch!