SPORTS STORIES:
SPORTS INFORMATION—2009
nurse fetterman ready for softball season...
CLEVELAND, OH (March 9, 2009) - Sophomore first baseman Anneliese Fetterman had never practiced softball indoors prior to her arrival to Case Western Reserve University. So why does a girl who grew up just 40 minutes south of San Francisco, Calif. decide to go to college in Cleveland, Ohio?
“My mom grew up in Ohio [Cuyahoga Falls] and had a lot of nice things to say about its schools,” Fetterman explained. “We traveled around the state during spring break my junior year and saw a bunch of schools. Case was a good mixture for me between the really big schools and the really small ones.”
Another big draw for the Cupertino, Calif. native was Case Western Reserve’s Frances Payne Bolton (FPB) School of Nursing. Fetterman’s mother is a nurse and she also realizes it’s a good time to enter the field, as it is one that is actually adding jobs during these tough economic times.
“Once I started, I realized that it was the place for me,” Fetterman said. “I can’t really imagine myself doing anything else. It is the perfect balance between personal connections and critical thinking.”
She is currently doing both a psychiatric clinical at St. Vincent Hospital and a cardiac step down unit for her medical-surgical rotation at the Cleveland Clinic. During the beginning of the second semester due to the weather and lack of daylight, the Spartans practice at 6:00 a.m. inside the Veale Center. In addition to her normal class workload, Fetterman has clinicals from 7:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“You need to have good time management skills,” Fetterman said. “I am really enjoying the psychiatric clinical a lot. You just see so much that you wouldn’t expect to see in just your second year of college. The hands on experiences are really amazing compared to other schools where you don’t even start until you are an upperclassman.”
FPB puts students into real world experiences immediately as Fetterman also had clinicals her freshman year. Clinicals in most nursing programs don’t begin until the student’s junior year, which means you could go through two years of class work, before you do a clinical and realize it may not be for you.
Although Fetterman is still figuring out what field of nursing she will enter, one thing she does know is the game of softball. She chose it over surfing and the beautiful beaches of California growing up.
The Spartans, who are currently 3-1, are in Altamonte Springs, Florida March 10-14 for the University Athletic Association Championships. Fetterman played in and started 44 games her rookie year, batting .290. The two-year starter had 36 hits including ten doubles and 21 runs batted in.
“It’s hard to jump into the most important games of the season not having played very many games outdoors and go out and play your best,” Fetterman explained. “But we have accepted the task ahead of us and we will pull together and fight for the championship.”
-end-