“I like to be the best at everything I do,” says Nicole Friend. That ambition has kept her at the top of her game—literally—throughout high school and college.

She was captain of all three of her sports teams and on the math team in high school. At Bemidji State University, she participated in basketball and track and pursued a degree in math education.

Those joint pursuits led her to a graduate program in sports studies, where she is exploring the physics of sports. She is also the graduate assistant track coach.

“When I came to Bemidji State, I didn’t know all the things you could do with math. You learn so much more at the university level about where you can apply it. I spent time talking with all my professors about what I could do with my interests as a career,” says Friend.

Friend also spent a semester student teaching in Australia. While the experience didn’t go quite as planned, she gained valuable insight into the variety of teaching methods that are used. The teacher she was originally paired to work with went on medical leave, so she spent much of her time with substitute teachers. During the time she spent observing the various substitutes, she noticed how the students reacted to those who just showed up and taught out of the book versus those who made learning more exciting by engaging the students through activities.

It was a lesson she had learned herself as a high school student in advanced placement calculus. “Our teacher made the math exciting. We did a lot of group activities and real-world problems that we could relate to our everyday lives.”

This was one of the reasons Friend decided to pursue teaching. While she is not sure where her graduate studies will lead her, with her track record as a go-getter, she will succeed in whatever career she chooses.

In high school, as a three-sport athlete, she learned to juggle a busy schedule and to give her best in everything she did. As a coach, she led through example. “I was the leader who led by actions, rather than words. I showed them that I go to school, do my homework and work as hard as I can.”

What kept her going? “The will to perform,” says Friend. “Even when I was tired and wanted to give up, I thought if I did I wouldn’t be doing my job and I had to set that standard.”