Issue: Summer 2013 | Posted: June 5, 2013

Life in the Balance

Most student athletes have some adjustments to make when they come to Union and compete at the collegiate level. But Astrid Huttemann had more obstacles in front of her than most.

She came to Jackson from Asunción, Paraguay. At first, her conversational English skills were a work in progress.

“It was a horrible feeling, not being able to express what you wanted to say,” Huttemann remembers. “I really had a hard time.”

Huttemann, now completing her sophomore year, says her life has changed dramatically since those early freshman days. Interacting with friends and teammates led to rapid improvement in her spoken English.

She also made a personal profession of her faith in Jesus Christ for the first time. She says that profession was more of a breakthrough than the improvements in her English skills.

“It made a huge difference. I have perspective now,” Huttemann says. “I want to do missions. I want to make an impact in my hometown.”

World Bank statistics show more than a third of Paraguay’s population lives below the poverty line, among the highest such percentages in South America.

“In Paraguay, there are a lot of poor people,” says Huttemann, a social work major. “So I just want to go and do whatever God lets me or give me the opportunity to do.”

Basketball brought her to Union, but the life she is living here will have an impact far beyond the court and for many years to come.

“Our athletics program gives us a platform to tell the story of changed lives,” says Jerry Tidwell, senior vice president for university relations and athletics. “We want to make sure these students come to Union and they perform well as athletes, students and Christians.

Tidwell says Union’s student athletes have a graduation rate slightly higher than the general student population. Student athletes are committed to academic programs such as pre-pharmacy, pre-medicine, engineering and nursing.

Union’s transition to NCAA Division II competition sheds a new focus on Huttemann’s story and others like it. In recent years, Division II schools have adopted a model described as “Life in the Balance,” which focuses on academics and community service as well as athletics.

Union has exemplified this type of approach to athletics for many years.

Tidwell credits Union coaches with recruiting well-rounded students and then encouraging them to live that life in the balance.

“I can say after spending time with our coaches that they are not only fine people, they’re wonderful moms, dads, husbands, wives and believers in Christ,” Tidwell says. “We’re proud of the work our coaches are doing.”

Huttemann says her head coach Mark Campbell became a father-figure who pointed her to a deeper knowledge of Christ.

“From the beginning, when I started talking to Coach Campbell by phone or he emailed me, he always talked about God to me,” she says. “He invited me to his church. He is just a great example of being a godly man.”

As the visible trek toward full NCAA Division II membership continues, it’s also worth watching the less visible but deeply important progress made by individual Union athletes.

“These athletes come here not just to play the sport,” says Tidwell. “They see the sport as an avenue by which they can serve Christ.”