Day in the Life

Spring 2018
By Taegan Howells
Photo by Tommy LaVergne

Sport: Women’s Track and Field (Event: Pole Vault)
Hometown: Bellevue, Wash.
College: Martel
Major: Kinesiology (Sports Medicine Concentration)
Coach: Jim Bevan

Rice students are known for pushing themselves to succeed, and Aya Rossano ’18 is no exception. After a wrist injury ended her gymnastics career the summer before she started high school, she became captivated with pole vaulting. She recently won a silver medal at the 2018 C-USA Indoor Championships, following her two silver medals at the 2016 and 2017 C-USA Outdoor Championships. Rossano is similarly ambitious in her academics as she prepares for a career in medicine. She compares being a Rice student to a particularly tough workout: “It hits you hard, all at once. But you learn to adapt and push yourself to work hard each and every day to become a better student, athlete and person.”

6:45 a.m.
Get out of bed and fix up a bowl of oatmeal for fuel

7:20 a.m.
Foam roll and weights at Tudor

“It’s a 5-minute walk from my off-campus place to Tudor. I love it.”

8:45 a.m.
Quick shower and make breakfast — “scrambled eggs and toast, my favorite”

9:30 a.m.
Sports medicine internship at the Houston Methodist Orthopedic Biomechanics Research Laboratory

12:15 p.m.
Peer Academic Advisors meeting and lunch

1 p.m.
Class: Psychological Aspects of Sport and Exercise

“It’s very applicable to my sport. What I’ve learned has influenced how I prepare for competition.”

3 p.m.
Dynamic warmup with technical coach David Butler

4:30 p.m.
Sprint and core workout with Funmi Jimoh ’06, the women’s track and field assistant coach

5:30 p.m.
Treatment and foam roll

6 p.m.
Heat up dinner that I meal-prepped Sunday

“I scout out recipes on thekitchn.com or ask my mom for one of her recipes. I pick something that looks nutritious and satisfying.”

7 p.m.
Free time: homework, planning events or catching up with friends

11:30 p.m.
Check social media, watch funny videos and sports highlights before lights out