University of Minnesota Athletics
What I Did This Summer: Katie Loberg
9/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Sept. 13, 2011
This is the seventh part of a summer series on GopherSports.com featuring reports written by members of the women's basketball team that detail some of the interesting things they did last summer. As classes are now in full swing, today's "What I Did This Summer" feature is written by junior forward Katie Loberg, who was able to travel, take classes and volunteer over her summer break.
I started the summer off with a trip to Phoenix, Ariz., with my mom and a childhood friend to visit my godmother, her husband and their son. I basically relaxed at their pool all day and read a book called The Hunger Games, which I loved! We also drove up to the Grand Canyon for an overnight trip and even saw some wild elk and antelope. On the drive back to Phoenix, we stopped in Sedona and did some hiking through the gorgeous red rock that the town is famous for.
Once back from Arizona, I settled into my May Term course, American Sign Language 3, which I had for four hours a day, five days a week. I was basically fluent by the time I finished the class!
After May Term ended, I began summer workouts and classes. I recently became a journalism major so I was taking two main courses I needed to graduate--News Writing & Reporting and Information for Mass Communication. Both were tough, but I ended up doing great in both!
Over the 4th of July, I took Kionna (Kellogg) and Micaella (Riche) up to my cabin on Lake Superior in Grand Marais, MN. They had never been to Northern Minnesota, so it was fun to introduce them to that part of my life! We enjoyed some cascade hiking, swimming, bonfires and we even caught a fish (it was a team effort). :)
In August I decided to take a weekend trip out to California to visit my sister Lauryl and her boyfriend Nick, who live in San Mateo (just south of San Francisco). It was my first time visiting her and also my first time in California--and my time out there was not wasted! I pretty much saw all there was to see in San Fran from the top of the famous "Ride the Ducks" duck boats--personal duck call included. We also drove through the Santa Cruz Mountains, which I must say, are quite the turbulent ride. I got so carsick I had to take over the wheel for the descent! Once we made it through the mountains, we stopped at Panther Beach, which is just north of Santa Cruz, and "much less touristy," Lauryl added.
Aside from workouts, school and traveling, I also volunteered a lot this summer, as I accumulated over 50 hours. About half of that time was spent helping out the Athletic Compliance Office by creating videos, which were presented to all the University's athletic teams at the start of this school year. That was a really great experience and very fun as well.
But, my favorite volunteer experience would be getting to volunteer for the U2 concert with Janell Campbell of the women's gymnastics team and Leighton Lerum of the women's track & field team. After we finished volunteering, we were able to stay and enjoy the show in the rain (good thing we remembered our ponchos)!
Overall, my summer flew by, but in a way that was good. I stayed busy and also motivated for September when we started workouts again.
Soon the warm summer breeze will be gone and we'll feel that crisp fall chill in the air, and basketball season will be here again.
