Crusaders News
Posted by Patrick Moore - Softball - Wed, Jun 9, 2010
Amber Rafko
Madonna University softball student-athlete Amber Rafko (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) is one of 13 student-athletes that have been selected to participate in the 2010-2011 Red Cross/NAIA Collegiate Leadership Program. The initiative is now in its fourth year, and will inspire, motivate and create a new and diverse generation of American Red Cross volunteers and leaders through exemplifying the five core values of the NAIA Champions of Character program.
As part of its support of the Red Cross diversity initiatives, State Farm Insurance is sponsoring this partnership. The leadership program kicks off with two weeks of energetic training at the Red Cross National Headquarters located in Washington, D.C. from June 7 to June 18. The incoming class will participate in a rare and unique opportunity to acquire first-hand coaching, mentoring and professional leadership training presented by one of the nation's largest non-profit organizations' senior leaders. In addition, Dr. Rob Haworth, NAIA Vice President for Champions of Character, will hold character workshops during the two week leadership academy.
This once-in-a-lifetime experience allows NAIA student-athletes to be a part of a team made up of young adults from NAIA campuses throughout the country. The program is part of a larger Red Cross diversity strategy for moving the Red Cross from awareness to action, building Red Cross capacity to serve all Americans.
Student-athletes will learn from civic and business leaders how to uncover their leadership potential off the field. The participants will organize successful campus blood drives, actively participate on a leadership board, and take part in diversity and cultural competency training. For their efforts, students will receive scholarship support provided by the Red Cross and State Farm Insurance.
Rafko will keep MadonnaCrusaders.com readers updated on her experiences in our nation's capital with a blog from Red Cross headquarters.
As part of its support of the Red Cross diversity initiatives, State Farm Insurance is sponsoring this partnership. The leadership program kicks off with two weeks of energetic training at the Red Cross National Headquarters located in Washington, D.C. from June 7 to June 18. The incoming class will participate in a rare and unique opportunity to acquire first-hand coaching, mentoring and professional leadership training presented by one of the nation's largest non-profit organizations' senior leaders. In addition, Dr. Rob Haworth, NAIA Vice President for Champions of Character, will hold character workshops during the two week leadership academy.
This once-in-a-lifetime experience allows NAIA student-athletes to be a part of a team made up of young adults from NAIA campuses throughout the country. The program is part of a larger Red Cross diversity strategy for moving the Red Cross from awareness to action, building Red Cross capacity to serve all Americans.
Student-athletes will learn from civic and business leaders how to uncover their leadership potential off the field. The participants will organize successful campus blood drives, actively participate on a leadership board, and take part in diversity and cultural competency training. For their efforts, students will receive scholarship support provided by the Red Cross and State Farm Insurance.
Rafko will keep MadonnaCrusaders.com readers updated on her experiences in our nation's capital with a blog from Red Cross headquarters.
Day Two - Meetings and a baseball game
Day #2 began with... of course... breakfast at Cravings! I think the cashier man will know my name by the end of my stay. I bought the most scrumptious blueberry muffin. Then we made our way to the HQ to begin our day.
Taking our seats around the conference table and adjusting our names on the table we watching the first speaker enter. Brian (Hamil) said, "He has his Diet Coke, he must be ready." So with that one of the girls from last year's program introduced him to the group. The man was Chris Hrouda ("ROAD-UH"), Executive Vice President of Biomedical Services. He started his career as a medical technologist and magna cum laude graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia named valedictorian of the medical technology program. He was comical and easy to talk to even though he takes care of the entire collection and distribution of blood for The American Red Cross. I asked him, "Do you have any regrets or have you ever been doubtful of a career opportunity?" He responded, "Yes I have had doubts and you also will have them. But all you can do is make the best decision for you at the time and the family you have around you." Mr. Hrouda also stressed that you don't do things alone. Each and every mistake you make is as a team. Every success you have is because the team you have made that possible. That is something I truly take to heart.
Next, was an interesting meeting. We were scheduled to speak with Eva Quinley, Senior Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs. However, she resides and works out of Memphis, TN. Instead of seeing her, we heard from her.
One of the very important people that I owe gratitude to is Jennifer Lourie. To go off topic for a bit, I would like to say that Jennifer has been doing the greatest job ever showing us the best D.C. has to offer. She has made me feel very lucky to be in this position and I know that without her efforts our travels would not have been so enjoyable. I hope that she reads this and knows that every one of us student athletes can only hope to stay in touch with such a great woman and hard working employee of The American Red Cross.
Back on track, Eva Quinley is a very educated woman she taught us everything there was to know about blood, donations, complications, questions, concerns, and everything else under the sun. All over the phone! Talk about an expensive telephone bill.
Then, I met a very creative woman. Jan Hale is in charge of the Southwest Blood Service Region. She had the best power point presentation I think I have ever seen. I mean this woman KNOWS how to keep your attention. Her tips about having our own blood drives were similar to our iPods. We must have a variety of things to draw people in and enjoy themselves. We need to be different than a normal, boring blood drive, and I get that. Basically, "try to blow the doors off the place." And when it all comes together it will be music to our ears!
After Jan, we met a woman named Chrystel Bell. She recruits donors in her sleep. Her motivational spirit is contagious and she had a compelling story of her own about needing blood. During her first pregnancy she had to have a Caesarian section, and suffered major blood loss because of her reaction to the epidural shot she received for pain earlier that day. Her trials have pushed her to really spread the word about donating blood. The experience has taught her that at any given moment you may need blood and wouldn't it be nice to know that what you invest in, you will always get back in return.
Our final speaker was a former baseball player from Bethel University, Cameron Branock. He and his newlywed wife Sam came to speak in D.C. after getting married a day earlier! What a honeymoon, right? Actually, they are going to Jamaica right about now, don't worry guys. Any who, Mr. Branock spoke about his experiences from being in the Red Cross/NAIA program in the past leading up to his employment at The American Red Cross. He shared some key points that will definitely hit home when it comes to my own blood drives on campus.
Finally ... Drum roll, please. We left the office to go to the Washington Nationals Baseball game!!! WOOOO HOOO! I am not a huge fan but what the heck, anywhere is better than in heels. We changed into our baseball attire and headed for the Metro (mass transit/ subway). Some adorable little boys got on with their family and they were "Metro surfing" and having the greatest time. Metro surfing is where you basically don't hold on to any rails on the ceiling or sit down and hope you don't fall and embarrass yourself. [For safety precautions Coach Al, I held on to the bacterial infested pole.] I would have fallen for sure. See Day 3. Once we switched a few times and finally got to our destination we went up to speak with Bob Wolfe, Executive Vice President of the Washington Nationals. He is a very tall man. I think he might even have Leroy Allen beat. Sorry Leroy. He played basketball at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta. He spoke very friendly to us and even sat down with us at the table and we had a wonderful conversation about leadership and sports together. What he preached the most was about respect. He simply said, "If you have respect for the people under you, and respect for the people above you, things should run pretty darn smooth." I was so grateful to meet him and I thank Israel Negron for giving us the tickets and coming down into the massive crowd of fans to take us up to the fancy offices. And again, so much thanks to Brian Hamil and Jennifer Lourie! For having the connections they do to get us to speak with such great, admirable people. If there is anything that I take away from this program it will be that without the help of others many, many things would simply not be possible.
The ball game was awesome. I have never seen a whole stadium stand up and applaud someone so much. Literally, almost everyone in the stands was screaming for Stephen Strasburg, the new pitching stud for Washington. The umpire called two balls for his first two professional pitches and the stadium was just not having it. They didn't look like strikes from where I was standing but heaven forbid I say that out loud, I might get tossed into the Potomac. But Strasburg did throw very well throughout his seven innings played. The umpire did a great job although many remarks were made and I overheard some guys (that thought they knew everything there was to know about the game of baseball) saying "Joyce" several times and laughing at their own jokes hysterically. I happened to be at the Tigers game that day and I didn't hear jokes... just pure anger. But Sam Choma (Houghton University- New York) and I ate as much ballpark food as we could possible consume, which wasn't much. We were given these debit cards to swipe as a stipend for each week we are here and let me tell you it is NICE. All of us student-athletes say we are going to save the money and go shopping with the card but everyone knows that won't happen. Food keeps me fueled throughout our very long days.
The game ended 5-2 in favor of Washington and we headed back to the Metro to go home. Let my experience be a lesson for you NOT to ride mass transit after a game that was sold out. Do you know how they package sardines? Well think of those as strangers around you plus a bike. Hundreds of people watched as the Blue line approached, bending their knees a bit to prepare for the push. The doors opened a mere six feet wide and everyone poured in. The poor man with the bicycle had to clutch onto it for dear life because of the flow of people. My roommate, Alex Starr (Purdue University Calumet- Indiana), had one leg over the bike one behind and was getting her leg ripped off by people getting on! I was behind her and lucky only had the bike seat punch me in the stomach before I took the man's seat that was now fighting for his bike back. Luckily, all 19 of us college students made it out alive and Brian was happy to see that we could move fast when told to stick together.
Although the first couple times we made many people angry by standing on the escalator. In D.C. you will find that people don't stop. They don't waste the time of day to even stand on an escalator, they will run you over if you walk on the crosswalk after the designated walking light has expired, and if you try for a second to stop a biker in stride they will put you on your back. I don't know about you but back in the small town of Monroe, Michigan, I like to use escalators so I don't have to do anything. Isn't that way they were invented??
Home sweet home at GW Potomac house and finally sleep Yes! I wouldn't like Vegas. The city that never sleeps!
Day #2 began with... of course... breakfast at Cravings! I think the cashier man will know my name by the end of my stay. I bought the most scrumptious blueberry muffin. Then we made our way to the HQ to begin our day.
Taking our seats around the conference table and adjusting our names on the table we watching the first speaker enter. Brian (Hamil) said, "He has his Diet Coke, he must be ready." So with that one of the girls from last year's program introduced him to the group. The man was Chris Hrouda ("ROAD-UH"), Executive Vice President of Biomedical Services. He started his career as a medical technologist and magna cum laude graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia named valedictorian of the medical technology program. He was comical and easy to talk to even though he takes care of the entire collection and distribution of blood for The American Red Cross. I asked him, "Do you have any regrets or have you ever been doubtful of a career opportunity?" He responded, "Yes I have had doubts and you also will have them. But all you can do is make the best decision for you at the time and the family you have around you." Mr. Hrouda also stressed that you don't do things alone. Each and every mistake you make is as a team. Every success you have is because the team you have made that possible. That is something I truly take to heart.
Next, was an interesting meeting. We were scheduled to speak with Eva Quinley, Senior Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs. However, she resides and works out of Memphis, TN. Instead of seeing her, we heard from her.
One of the very important people that I owe gratitude to is Jennifer Lourie. To go off topic for a bit, I would like to say that Jennifer has been doing the greatest job ever showing us the best D.C. has to offer. She has made me feel very lucky to be in this position and I know that without her efforts our travels would not have been so enjoyable. I hope that she reads this and knows that every one of us student athletes can only hope to stay in touch with such a great woman and hard working employee of The American Red Cross.
Back on track, Eva Quinley is a very educated woman she taught us everything there was to know about blood, donations, complications, questions, concerns, and everything else under the sun. All over the phone! Talk about an expensive telephone bill.
Then, I met a very creative woman. Jan Hale is in charge of the Southwest Blood Service Region. She had the best power point presentation I think I have ever seen. I mean this woman KNOWS how to keep your attention. Her tips about having our own blood drives were similar to our iPods. We must have a variety of things to draw people in and enjoy themselves. We need to be different than a normal, boring blood drive, and I get that. Basically, "try to blow the doors off the place." And when it all comes together it will be music to our ears!
After Jan, we met a woman named Chrystel Bell. She recruits donors in her sleep. Her motivational spirit is contagious and she had a compelling story of her own about needing blood. During her first pregnancy she had to have a Caesarian section, and suffered major blood loss because of her reaction to the epidural shot she received for pain earlier that day. Her trials have pushed her to really spread the word about donating blood. The experience has taught her that at any given moment you may need blood and wouldn't it be nice to know that what you invest in, you will always get back in return.
Our final speaker was a former baseball player from Bethel University, Cameron Branock. He and his newlywed wife Sam came to speak in D.C. after getting married a day earlier! What a honeymoon, right? Actually, they are going to Jamaica right about now, don't worry guys. Any who, Mr. Branock spoke about his experiences from being in the Red Cross/NAIA program in the past leading up to his employment at The American Red Cross. He shared some key points that will definitely hit home when it comes to my own blood drives on campus.
Finally ... Drum roll, please. We left the office to go to the Washington Nationals Baseball game!!! WOOOO HOOO! I am not a huge fan but what the heck, anywhere is better than in heels. We changed into our baseball attire and headed for the Metro (mass transit/ subway). Some adorable little boys got on with their family and they were "Metro surfing" and having the greatest time. Metro surfing is where you basically don't hold on to any rails on the ceiling or sit down and hope you don't fall and embarrass yourself. [For safety precautions Coach Al, I held on to the bacterial infested pole.] I would have fallen for sure. See Day 3. Once we switched a few times and finally got to our destination we went up to speak with Bob Wolfe, Executive Vice President of the Washington Nationals. He is a very tall man. I think he might even have Leroy Allen beat. Sorry Leroy. He played basketball at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta. He spoke very friendly to us and even sat down with us at the table and we had a wonderful conversation about leadership and sports together. What he preached the most was about respect. He simply said, "If you have respect for the people under you, and respect for the people above you, things should run pretty darn smooth." I was so grateful to meet him and I thank Israel Negron for giving us the tickets and coming down into the massive crowd of fans to take us up to the fancy offices. And again, so much thanks to Brian Hamil and Jennifer Lourie! For having the connections they do to get us to speak with such great, admirable people. If there is anything that I take away from this program it will be that without the help of others many, many things would simply not be possible.
The ball game was awesome. I have never seen a whole stadium stand up and applaud someone so much. Literally, almost everyone in the stands was screaming for Stephen Strasburg, the new pitching stud for Washington. The umpire called two balls for his first two professional pitches and the stadium was just not having it. They didn't look like strikes from where I was standing but heaven forbid I say that out loud, I might get tossed into the Potomac. But Strasburg did throw very well throughout his seven innings played. The umpire did a great job although many remarks were made and I overheard some guys (that thought they knew everything there was to know about the game of baseball) saying "Joyce" several times and laughing at their own jokes hysterically. I happened to be at the Tigers game that day and I didn't hear jokes... just pure anger. But Sam Choma (Houghton University- New York) and I ate as much ballpark food as we could possible consume, which wasn't much. We were given these debit cards to swipe as a stipend for each week we are here and let me tell you it is NICE. All of us student-athletes say we are going to save the money and go shopping with the card but everyone knows that won't happen. Food keeps me fueled throughout our very long days.
The game ended 5-2 in favor of Washington and we headed back to the Metro to go home. Let my experience be a lesson for you NOT to ride mass transit after a game that was sold out. Do you know how they package sardines? Well think of those as strangers around you plus a bike. Hundreds of people watched as the Blue line approached, bending their knees a bit to prepare for the push. The doors opened a mere six feet wide and everyone poured in. The poor man with the bicycle had to clutch onto it for dear life because of the flow of people. My roommate, Alex Starr (Purdue University Calumet- Indiana), had one leg over the bike one behind and was getting her leg ripped off by people getting on! I was behind her and lucky only had the bike seat punch me in the stomach before I took the man's seat that was now fighting for his bike back. Luckily, all 19 of us college students made it out alive and Brian was happy to see that we could move fast when told to stick together.
Although the first couple times we made many people angry by standing on the escalator. In D.C. you will find that people don't stop. They don't waste the time of day to even stand on an escalator, they will run you over if you walk on the crosswalk after the designated walking light has expired, and if you try for a second to stop a biker in stride they will put you on your back. I don't know about you but back in the small town of Monroe, Michigan, I like to use escalators so I don't have to do anything. Isn't that way they were invented??
Home sweet home at GW Potomac house and finally sleep Yes! I wouldn't like Vegas. The city that never sleeps!
Today
Baseball
| (23) Madonna vs | 2:00pm |
| Oregon Institute of Technology | EST |
| Played at Vanguard University (Costa Mesa, Calif.) | |
| (23) Madonna at | 5:00pm |
| Vanguard University | EST |
Friday, Feb 10
Baseball
| (23) Madonna at | 5:00pm |
| (RV) Point Loma Nazarene University | EST |
Saturday, Feb 11
Baseball
| (23) Madonna at | 3:00pm |
| (RV) Point Loma Nazarene University | EST |
| (23) Madonna at | Game |
| (RV) Point Loma Nazarene University | 2 |
Women's Basketball
| Madonna at | 1:00pm |
| Lourdes University | EST |
Men's Basketball
| (RV) Madonna at | 3:00pm |
| Lourdes University | EST |
Wednesday, Feb 15
Women's Basketball
| Madonna at | 5:30pm |
| (RV) University of Northwestern Ohio | EST |
Men's Basketball
| (RV) Madonna at | 7:30pm |
| University of Northwestern Ohio | EST |
Friday, Feb 17
Baseball
| (23) Madonna vs | 3:00pm |
| Asbury College | EST |
| Tennessee Valley Invitational (Hosted by Bryan College - Dayton, Tenn.) | |
| (23) Madonna at | 6:00pm |
| Bryan College | EST |
| Tennessee Valley Invitational (Hosted by Bryan College - Dayton, Tenn.) | |
Saturday, Feb 18
Baseball
| (23) Madonna at | 2:00pm |
| Tennessee Temple | EST |
| Tennessee Valley Invitational (Hosted by Bryan College - Dayton, Tenn.) - Played at Red Bank HS - Chattanooga, Tenn. | |
| (23) Madonna at | 5:00pm |
| University of Rio Grande | EST |
| Tennessee Valley Invitational (Hosted by Bryan College - Dayton, Tenn.) | |
Women's Basketball
| Madonna at | 5:00pm |
| Aquinas College | EST |
Men's Basketball
| Aquinas College at | 3:00pm |
| (RV) Madonna | EST |
Yesterday
Women's Basketball
Men's Basketball
Saturday, Feb 4
Women's Basketball
Men's Basketball
Wednesday, Feb 1
Women's Basketball
Men's Basketball
Saturday, Jan 28
Women's Basketball
Men's Basketball
Wednesday, Jan 25
Women's Basketball
Men's Basketball
Saturday, Jan 21
Women's Basketball
Men's Basketball
Wednesday, Jan 18
Women's Basketball
Men's Basketball
Saturday, Jan 14
Women's Basketball
2011-12 Rankings
Baseball 23
Men's Basketball RV
Men's Cross Country N/A
Men's Golf RV
Men's Soccer N/A
Softball RV
Volleyball RV
Women's Basketball N/A
Women's Cross Country N/A
Women's Golf RV
Women's Soccer N/A
View Rankings
