Name: Courtney Kruggel
Year: Junior
Major: Exercise Physiology; Physical Therapy program
Hometown: South Bend, IN
HCMU: Why did you choose to come to Marquette?
CK: Basically I knew I wanted to go somewhere besides in Indiana. I kind of wanted to get away and obviously they have an amazing Physical Therapy program, so being able to be directly admitted to that was huge. I remember when I first visited Marquette, it was Christmas break and literally no one was here. It was like a pretty bad snowstorm and I just remember I didn’t get the greatest feeling from it. Then I just kept thinking about it and I’d look at pictures and get really excited and then I got into the program and it just all started feeling right. I knew Milwaukee would be a super fun place to be.
HCMU: Do you have a favorite spot on campus or downtown?
CK: I really love going to Colectivo. Anywhere down by the lakefront; that’s where I love to run. On campus, I used to always be at the Brew but that’s when I had meal swipes. I also spend a lot of time in the Cramer lounge because a lot of my classes are in there and I like it better than the library because the library makes me go crazy.
HCMU: Do you have any favorite Marquette memories so far?
CK: Honestly it was probably bringing CHAARG here. I feel like that’s just my one way that I’m leaving a mark at Marquette. It’s just been so cool and it’s really broadened who I know at Marquette, which is awesome because I would have never been able to meet these other 120 girls. I just think it’s really cool to be able to say I helped bring it here and getting my friends involved in it has been really awesome. It really helps me feel the Marquette community even more.
HCMU: What made you want to bring CHAARG to Marquette?
CK: Freshmen year, one of my best friends would post pictures about it on Instagram and would tag CHAARG so I looked through it and asked her about it. She said it was up my alley and I should look into it. My freshman year I applied to bring it here and I got through the first round of interviews but I ended up not getting it. I thought about it again my sophomore year and wondered if I should do it. Sarah, one of the leaders of national CHAARG, reached out to me. I decided to do it and I ended up getting it this time around. The whole aspect of Changing Health, Attitudes, and Actions to Recreate Girls, is a great concept. I’ve always played sports and then coming to college, you don’t really know what you’re supposed to do to stay healthy. CHAARG is perfect for that. It’s not all about fitness, it’s also about being a community. It’s about bringing girls together and making them happy.
HCMU: What else are you involved in on campus?
CK: I am in Sigma Kappa, and soon I’m doing my first Habitat for Humanity, so I’m really excited about that. I used to volunteer for the YES Program, which stands for Youth Empowered to Succeed and is primarily run by Exercise Physiology student. It’s at one of the middle schools in the more Hispanic area of Milwaukee. I was their mentor and I helped get them really excited about fitness and lead them through workouts. Unfortunately, I can’t do that anymore because of my internship in CHAARG but I did it my freshman and sophomore year.
HCMU: Who or what inspires you?
CK: A lot of people but primarily my mom is a huge inspiration to me. I feel like that’s kind of a cliché but it’s really true. She’s just a very strong-willed human being and no matter what’s going on in her life, she would still always help the people around her. She’s the type of person that wants to be able to help everyone. She’s just so strong and intelligent and always so happy and so willing to help other people. I think having that mindset of being so caring and so passionate about life is a big inspiration to me.
HCMU: What’s your dream job?
CK: Being a physical therapist, primarily sports medicine, and I think it would be really awesome to be able to do that for a huge football team.
HCMU: Do you have any advice for freshmen?
CK: Just to reach out and don’t just get comfortable with your group of friends. Push yourself to try new things and be open to everybody. You never know whom you are going to meet and how they are going to impact your life. Join things just to meet other people because there are so many awesome people at Marquette.
HCMU: Do you have a favorite quote?
CK: I have two: “Life is better when you’re laughing” and “The harder you work, the luckier you get”.
HCMU: What’s a fun fact about you?
CK: My roommate and I are both named Courtney and both have wavy blonde hair. So I live and am best friends with another Courtney. We convinced this one guy at a basketball game that we were twins and that our parents were just not creative.
HCMU: Anything else to add?
CK: Join CHAARG!
Thanks Courtney!