By: Adiana Rivera, Athletic Communications Intern
Katie (Sharp) Wisniewski‘02, spent her time at the State University of New York at New Paltz juggling lacrosse, soccer, and school. Now her life has been replaced with juggling three kids, a married life, and her career as a nurse.
Wisniewski began her transformation when head women’s soccer coach Colleen Bruley recruited her.
“I was one of [Colleen’s] worst recruits because I was so shy and uncomfortable,” said Wisniewski.
Eventually, Wisniewski grew into a positive and fun-loving defender, trying to keep the team lighthearted through serious practices. In her sophomore year, the team pushed each other to work hard and their effort paid off and brought them to the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Tournament. At that time, only the top four teams made it to the championship.
“I feel like that really defined us,” said Wisniewski. “We finally were winning and attracting more attention.”
In 2001, Wisniewski’s positive attitude led her to be team captain during a hard season when a couple of her teammates lost their family members in the Sept. 11 attacks.
“It was a rough year for our team in general,” said Wisniewski. “I think many of the other colleges didn’t have as many Long Island kids that were as affected as we were.”
The team began to drift and Wisniewski reached out to her teammates, attempting to maintain an optimistic attitude in order to keep the team together. She continuously reminded her team that the field is where everything mattered and they were all friends.
Even with that difficult year, Wisniewski misses the practices, away trips and teasing coach Bruley from the field when she was being yelled at during a game. She also expresses some regret of not taking the time to enjoy the whole experience more.
“There were so many times when I thought the smallest thing was the biggest problem, when it really was not,” said Wisniewski, “I think of the extra weekends I went home, and I wish I stayed in [New Paltz].”
Learning to be a leader and a team player on the field has helped Wisniewski in her current career as a nurse.
“Where I work, we have to work as a team,” said Wisniewski. “Our patients are very critical. I feel like, with a team itself, you learn constructive criticism, you learn not to taking everything so personally, and you know everyone is working together for the same goal.”
Wisniewski didn’t always know she wanted to be a nurse but when she graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication and media with a minor in English, she began to think about what she wanted to do.
“My mom was a nurse and I think I knew I was kind of always interested but I pushed it away because I had grown up around it,” said Wisniewski.
After no longer dismissing the possibility of a nursing career, Wisniewski attended school at Molloy College in Long Island and received her nursing degree. Now Wisniewski works at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do at New Paltz,” said Wisniewski, “I feel like New Paltz was a time for me to grow up.”
Wisniewski not only grew as a person in New Paltz, but she also made some life long friends. In her sophomore year, she moved off campus with a group of girls from her soccer team and spent her free time with them in town. Kim Lipiro, an old soccer teammate of Wisniewski’s, even took part in her wedding.
Although the team has spread out and most of them have had children at this point, they still attempt to keep each other close by talking as frequently as possible.
“There is nothing like living with your best friends,” said Wisniewski, “We all say when we’re 80 years old, we’re going to move back into the house we all lived in.”
