By Edgar Rivas, Jr. —
The Gothic Knight Academic Award has been awarded since 1999. To be eligible for this award, a student/athlete must meet these requirements: A minimum of 36 cumulative college-level credits earned at NJCU that will be used toward their degree, the person must have participated and completed their season in the academic year that the award is being granted, and it’s not based on athletic ability – only academic performance.
Prior to 2011, only one female student/athlete had received the award three times: Patty J. Bradley, a softball player who won in 1999, 2000, 2001. This year, Alex Johanesen, 21, English/Journalism major from Bridgewater, won the award for the third consecutive year.
Johanesen had a very successful volleyball career. The all-time NJCU Women’s volleyball leader in assists, she was a two-time captain for the Gothic Knights (2009, 2010). In 368 career sets and 110 career matches, she was the most accurate server in NJCU Women’s volleyball history with a .975 serve percentage. She ranks third in the program’s history in assists per set (7.47) and service attempts, seventh in aces, 10th in sets played, 12th in block assists, 13th in matches played, and 15th in service aces per set (0.54).
Now a three-time recipient, she didn’t expect to receive the award.
“I was surprised because I didn’t know that I was going to get it this year,” said Johanesen.
Despite not expecting to receive the award, she was proud of the achievement.
“It just shows that you can be a successful athlete and a successful student,” she said.
At times, the dual role of “student/athlete” isn’t fully realized. There are cases of a student/athlete being a successful athlete but not a successful student, or vice-versa.
“Student/athletes don’t necessarily take the time to push themselves for both,” remarked Johanesen. “I’m proud because I know it’s important to be both a student and an athlete.”
Johanesen has her formula of being a successful student athlete: “I know my limitations, what I can do, know how/when to study, know when I need to be getting things done. I don’t procrastinate, and I have my priorities set.”
The Fall 2011 semester was Johanesen’s last as sports writer for The Gothic Times.
“It was fun. There were a lot of different characters. It was nice to learn from different kinds of people,” she said.
She graduated in December and hopes to get into graduate school and, eventually, become a novelist. As for the many transitions from high school graduate to college student, volleyball player to student/athlete to college graduate, she feels a little overwhelmed.
“You’re expected to jump into the real world,” she said.