SE: K-State Rowing’s Marissa Butrum Graduates with College of Education Award, Strengthened by Experiences as Wildcat
May 22, 2018 | Rowing, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Marissa Butrum's time at K-State was nothing short of transformational.
Butrum became a standout rower for K-State, culminating with a bronze medal in this year's Big 12 Championship. A captain in her final season with the team, she said she learned countless values and developed an already-strong work ethic in the boat. This summer in Seattle, Washington, she'll help pass them along to middle schoolers and high schoolers as a summer camp rowing coach.
"That is right up my alley," Butrum said of the opportunity to coach a sport she knew very little about coming into K-State.
In the classroom, Butrum was originally a pre-health major chasing a financially lucrative career. She recently graduated with a degree in secondary education, as one of two May recipients of the K-State College of Education's Outstanding Future Teacher Award and with an excitement to help enrich others' lives in the classroom as an English teacher.
"I wanted to start doing something that I enjoyed," Butrum said of the change in majors. "Once I got into my education courses, I loved it."
Last year, Butrum's world was shaken when her mother, Brenda, was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. Butrum had to rearrange classes and redshirt in rowing so she could be there for the treatments, which worked, as her mother has been cancer free for more than a year now.
"I learned a lot from that," said Butrum, who cried when her mother flew to Sacramento to watch her race this season and who ended her career with a medal-winning performance in front of her on Mother's Day. "It kind of made me realize the little things in life and how little bigger things are."
All of it — coaching and teaching, rowing and English, life's little and big things — is tied together by her experiences at K-State.
While in Manhattan, she earned handfuls of notable recognitions as a rower and a student, such as the Dr. Gerald Lage Award, the Big 12's highest academic honor. She also served in several leadership and philanthropic roles, including a trip to Nicaragua last year for K-States "Cats Across Continents" program to build a multi-purpose court.
Butrum's time at K-State has led to her to this point, with another award to her name and a skillset to turn her passion into a career.
"K-State has given me so many amazing opportunities that I never thought were possible. Five, six years ago, would I think that I'm coaching rowing in Seattle? Absolutely not. Would I have even thought I'd be an educator winning an award for education? No," she said. "K-State and K-State Athletics has really given me more than I ever could have imagined."
Specifically, Butrum said her time with K-State rowing helped her develop in a few key areas that she thinks will carry over to teaching in a positive manner.
The first is time-management.
"With rowing you have to manage your time well because you have so much on your plate with two to three practices a day, then your classes and then work for your classes," she said. "In teaching, it's similar because you're up in the morning teaching and in the afternoon you have to plan. So being able to manage time well will translate from rowing to teaching."
The second is leadership, especially by example.
"In my boat we had two true freshmen this year and we medaled and that is incredible. I will not say I taught them everything I know, because I did not, but being able to lead by example is huge," she said. "In teaching, kids are always watching you. There's never a time when someone's not looking at you, so doing everything the right way is huge. I try to do everything the way that it should be done so that others will follow that. I'm not too vocal by saying you need to do this or you should do that. It's more about doing something, doing it right and then having success from that, and then allowing other people to see that is huge for rowing and teaching."
Then there's the work ethic factor, a crucial trait for anyone who wants to learn, from scratch, how to row at the Division I level.
"It was a huge learning curve. I didn't redshirt my freshman year, so it was going from high school level of competition, which I thought was tough, to immediate DI racing. I raced my second month here and it was just kind of a slap in the face. I had to really prioritize things and decide, 'Do you want to work your butt off for four years?" Butrum said. "My work ethic has definitely developed a lot. I was pretty driven in high school in my studies and athletics, but this is just another level. In teaching it will require that as well."
Behind all of these lessons and areas of growth were key figures in Butrum's life. She's thankful for all of them.
Without Butrum's close friends, she may never have switched her major to education. Without nominations from her cooperating teacher, Susan Dils at Manhattan High School, and her academic advisor in the College of Education, Mechelle Martinez — who Butrum called a "miracle worker" and the "best human" — she would never have won the Outstanding Future Teacher Award.
"I was super excited," Butrum said of receiving the award, which she actually won last year, too, but she could not receive it then because it is meant for graduating students. "It was very nice of my cooperating teacher to nominate me and go through the process of nominating me twice, so it means a lot. It almost means more to me that she was willing to do that. It says a lot about what she thinks of me as a future teacher. She has a lot of confidence in me and my academic advisor does, too. It really is very meaningful that they put in nominations in for me in the first place."
If not for K-State rowing's coaches, Butrum would never have signed up for a life-changing challenge of learning the sport. If not for her professors on campus, she would have never witnessed their dedication to developing good people into great teachers.
If not for the strength of her mother in beating cancer, Butrum's perspective on life and therefore on teaching would be severely different.
"I think seeing the big picture and seeing what you're doing for students is relatable to that because, as a teacher, you can get caught in the day-to-day life of getting stressed out about really small things that in the grand scheme of things aren't that big," Butrum said. "I think focusing on what you're doing for students, how you're shaping them and really what a big impact you're having on them, I can carry that over."
Marissa Butrum's time at K-State was nothing short of transformational.
Butrum became a standout rower for K-State, culminating with a bronze medal in this year's Big 12 Championship. A captain in her final season with the team, she said she learned countless values and developed an already-strong work ethic in the boat. This summer in Seattle, Washington, she'll help pass them along to middle schoolers and high schoolers as a summer camp rowing coach.
"That is right up my alley," Butrum said of the opportunity to coach a sport she knew very little about coming into K-State.
In the classroom, Butrum was originally a pre-health major chasing a financially lucrative career. She recently graduated with a degree in secondary education, as one of two May recipients of the K-State College of Education's Outstanding Future Teacher Award and with an excitement to help enrich others' lives in the classroom as an English teacher.
"I wanted to start doing something that I enjoyed," Butrum said of the change in majors. "Once I got into my education courses, I loved it."
Last year, Butrum's world was shaken when her mother, Brenda, was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. Butrum had to rearrange classes and redshirt in rowing so she could be there for the treatments, which worked, as her mother has been cancer free for more than a year now.
"I learned a lot from that," said Butrum, who cried when her mother flew to Sacramento to watch her race this season and who ended her career with a medal-winning performance in front of her on Mother's Day. "It kind of made me realize the little things in life and how little bigger things are."
All of it — coaching and teaching, rowing and English, life's little and big things — is tied together by her experiences at K-State.
While in Manhattan, she earned handfuls of notable recognitions as a rower and a student, such as the Dr. Gerald Lage Award, the Big 12's highest academic honor. She also served in several leadership and philanthropic roles, including a trip to Nicaragua last year for K-States "Cats Across Continents" program to build a multi-purpose court.
Butrum's time at K-State has led to her to this point, with another award to her name and a skillset to turn her passion into a career.
"K-State has given me so many amazing opportunities that I never thought were possible. Five, six years ago, would I think that I'm coaching rowing in Seattle? Absolutely not. Would I have even thought I'd be an educator winning an award for education? No," she said. "K-State and K-State Athletics has really given me more than I ever could have imagined."
Specifically, Butrum said her time with K-State rowing helped her develop in a few key areas that she thinks will carry over to teaching in a positive manner.
The first is time-management.
"With rowing you have to manage your time well because you have so much on your plate with two to three practices a day, then your classes and then work for your classes," she said. "In teaching, it's similar because you're up in the morning teaching and in the afternoon you have to plan. So being able to manage time well will translate from rowing to teaching."
The second is leadership, especially by example.
"In my boat we had two true freshmen this year and we medaled and that is incredible. I will not say I taught them everything I know, because I did not, but being able to lead by example is huge," she said. "In teaching, kids are always watching you. There's never a time when someone's not looking at you, so doing everything the right way is huge. I try to do everything the way that it should be done so that others will follow that. I'm not too vocal by saying you need to do this or you should do that. It's more about doing something, doing it right and then having success from that, and then allowing other people to see that is huge for rowing and teaching."
Then there's the work ethic factor, a crucial trait for anyone who wants to learn, from scratch, how to row at the Division I level.
"It was a huge learning curve. I didn't redshirt my freshman year, so it was going from high school level of competition, which I thought was tough, to immediate DI racing. I raced my second month here and it was just kind of a slap in the face. I had to really prioritize things and decide, 'Do you want to work your butt off for four years?" Butrum said. "My work ethic has definitely developed a lot. I was pretty driven in high school in my studies and athletics, but this is just another level. In teaching it will require that as well."
Behind all of these lessons and areas of growth were key figures in Butrum's life. She's thankful for all of them.
Without Butrum's close friends, she may never have switched her major to education. Without nominations from her cooperating teacher, Susan Dils at Manhattan High School, and her academic advisor in the College of Education, Mechelle Martinez — who Butrum called a "miracle worker" and the "best human" — she would never have won the Outstanding Future Teacher Award.
"I was super excited," Butrum said of receiving the award, which she actually won last year, too, but she could not receive it then because it is meant for graduating students. "It was very nice of my cooperating teacher to nominate me and go through the process of nominating me twice, so it means a lot. It almost means more to me that she was willing to do that. It says a lot about what she thinks of me as a future teacher. She has a lot of confidence in me and my academic advisor does, too. It really is very meaningful that they put in nominations in for me in the first place."
If not for K-State rowing's coaches, Butrum would never have signed up for a life-changing challenge of learning the sport. If not for her professors on campus, she would have never witnessed their dedication to developing good people into great teachers.
If not for the strength of her mother in beating cancer, Butrum's perspective on life and therefore on teaching would be severely different.
"I think seeing the big picture and seeing what you're doing for students is relatable to that because, as a teacher, you can get caught in the day-to-day life of getting stressed out about really small things that in the grand scheme of things aren't that big," Butrum said. "I think focusing on what you're doing for students, how you're shaping them and really what a big impact you're having on them, I can carry that over."
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