Q & A with Kim Todd
12/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 6, 2007
MILWAUKEE - Senior Kimberley Todd became one of Marquette's first volleyball student-athletes to be honored as an All-American when she earned that distinction at the end of the 2006 season. This year, Todd has been named to the BIG EAST Conference Honor Roll two times and was named the conference's Player of the Week for the week of October 8. She also earned Fist Team All-BIG EAST Honors for the second consecutive year.
Why did you choose Marquette? I chose Marquette because of its strong academics as well as its volleyball program. I knew that Pati was really trying to improve the volleyball program here and bring it up to the top-25 level. I really wanted to help her do that. The engineering program that I also wanted was here so it was a combination of everything. I really enjoyed the campus when I came to visit as well.
Was there any adjustment being away from home for you? To me it was tough because my parents couldn't see me play all the time, as it is an 11-hour drive from home, but they have seen me a bit during my senior year. They were in Syracuse with a lot of the family when we played there recently so that was a lot of fun for me. It was an adjustment but it wasn't that difficult. High school mainly was the same way as it is here. I had class all day and then practice for whatever sport was in season. I played basketball, volleyball, track and lacrosse in high school. Then I'd have club practice at night so I'd be busy all the time. Plus, my high school (Anderson CVI) was a really hard academic high school. It was tough to find personal time.
With all those sports why did you settle on volleyball? I didn't make the volleyball team until the tenth grade. We didn't have a team in ninth grade because of a strike. I got discovered at a track meet doing the high jump in eighth grade and they made me play club volleyball. I was bad. We pull out videos when I go home and I die laughing. My parents were very patient and the club and regional programs at home were awesome.
Canadian schools have the reputation of being more focused on academics, how does Anderson CVI fit into that stereotype? At my high school, whenever the teachers go on strike the first thing to go are athletics. So, there is a huge focus on academics and teachers aren't as lenient. Some times you get penalized for being on athletics teams. A nice thing about Marquette is that the teachers are supportive of us. Of course we still have to do the work but they are generally understanding about our time commitments.
You are majoring in Biomedical engineering, how has that been on you? It's tough, I've had at least 16 credits every semester. This is the first one I've only had 15 and next semester I'll have 12, so I might take 15 just to keep myself sane. Its definitely been challenging but I don't see myself doing much else.
Do you have any plans for after graduation at the moment? Not sure yet. I am looking at going to grad school. I was thinking about doing education and teaching at the community college level. I think I am going to get into some design, so I'm hoping I can get a job at Nike or something like that and work with their engineering teams. I think that would be an ideal job.
You played with Team Canada this past summer, how was that experience? They selected more athletes than normal. So we had kind of a practice roster and a playing roster. We had two teams, a senior "A" team and a "FISU" (senior "B") team. The players on the "B" team all were in college for at least a year, we played in the World University games in Thailand this summer. We travelled to Japan and Thailand with that team. We didn't find out if we made the team until a week before we left so, it was a constant tryout. I did get injured though, so I couldn't play a whole lot. I pulled the lower part of my abdominal muscle which was really painful, but I was back by the end of the tournament getting to play. I had to be careful because I had to get back to Marquette two days later and start preseason workouts. Finding a role on the team was challenging but it helped me as a player to become better and as a person too.
Your sister Hayley is a freshman volleyball player at Syracuse, what advice have you given her this year? Just be patient, freshman year is always tough. She's hurt right now and that's been a struggle for her so I call her everyday telling her to stick with it and support her teammates. Her job right now is to get better not play.
How do you see your role on the team? At home I was always a leader on my team but when I got here I didn't really have that role. I like to have control and inspire my teammates to play better. So I definitely see myself as a team leader.
