Iowa State University Alumni Association| online edition | fall 2005

FALL 2005
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Cover Story:
>>Athletes & Academics
- Steve Paris
- Lyndsey Medders & Megan
- Ronhovde
- Scott Coleman
- Erin Dethloff

Feature:
Dancing in Rhythm

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ERIN DETHLOFF:
'I'M JUST A NORMAL STUDENT'

Hometown: Omaha, Neb.
Major: Elementary Education
Sport: Gymnastics

Gymnast Erin Dethloff was sold on ISU during the
recruiting process – she loved her fellow student-athletes, the welcoming atmosphere, the coaches,
the campus. She was just lacking a warm and fuzzy
feeling in one area: her major.

When she first arrived in Ames, Dethloff says
her primary focus was on ISU’s social scene. Eventually, when she got around to thinking about
academics, she thought maybe she’d like to go into
journalism. Then she wanted to be a pharmacist.
She changed her major, or at least her career path,
“like 10 times,” she admits. That’s when ISU’s
Student-Athlete Services staff got involved and gave
her some surveys and assessments. Dethloff liked
babysitting, working with kids in youth gymnastics,
and science. So today, thanks to the ISU staff’s
guidance and support, she’s on track to become
an elementary school science teacher.

“I’d love to teach fifth or sixth grade,” she says. “That’s when kids really start getting more interested
in science and have a better understanding of the concepts.”

Dethloff has found a passion in working with kids, though it hasn’t taken away from her love of
gymnastics. Entering her senior year, Dethloff’s
gymnastics resume is stellar: Big 12 bars champion,
Big 12 newcomer of the year, all-conference,
All-American. And recently, Dethloff added academic
all-conference honors to her list of achievements.
she says a general level of maturity, as well as the
personal satisfaction that comes with choosing and
sticking with a major she loves, has made her more
focused on the student side of her role as student-athlete.

There’s a lot of pressure, dethloff admits, to succeed both academically and athletically, but the rewards are plentiful. “Our school is well known for academics, as well as our gymnastics program. When I get my degree and go into the real world as an isu graduate, people will look at that and it will mean something,” she says.

Dethloff says she is keenly aware of the NCAA’s
rules on academics and eligibility, and her coach,
K.J. Kindler, has her own set of team rules that are
even stricter than the NCAA’s. But that’s okay with
Dethloff; she knows having a higher standard is
another way to set the rapidly rising ISU gymnastics
program apart from the crowd.

Despite those rules and the pressures to represent the university and the gymnastics program, and despite a hectic schedule packed with academic sessions, training sessions, and gymnastics competitions, Dethloff says she still considers herself just a “normal student.”

Just ask Dethloff what she thinks will be hardest thing about entering the job market after graduation. “Not being able to wear jeans every day,” Dethloff says. “That will be hard.”