University of Minnesota Athletics
Black History Month: Erin (Martin) Horn
2/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
In honor of Black History Month, Gopher Athletics is celebrating those who made us great. Throughout February, GopherSports.com will share short interviews with African-American alumni from almost every Gopher program. In these interviews, former student-athletes reflect on their time at the U of M, provide advice to current Gophers and share what Black History Month means to them personally.
Erin (Martin) Horn
Sport: Volleyball
Years: 2001-04
Hometown: Ames, Iowa
Occupation: Full-time mother / club volleyball coach
What is it you honestly miss most about the University?
I miss being on a team with a group of women who came to be like family to me. Being a student-athlete is such a unique experience. There will never be another time in my life where I have so much overlap with my closest friends. I miss living, playing, and traveling with those women. Life was simple back then. Lift, eat, class, eat, practice, eat, study, sleep. Being an adult is far more complicated.
If you could give the current student-athletes any piece of advice, what would it be?
It is a privilege for you to be a student-athlete at the University of Minnesota. You are not entitled to anything. Therefore, seek to have a privilege mentality and not an entitlement mentality. If you do this, you will be far more grateful for your experience and you will have greater joy and pride in what you do. Also, enjoy yourself; you only get to be a collegiate student-athlete once in your life.
Please share your favorite university or athletic event you've attended since you graduated and what made it so special to you?
The opening game at TCF stadium in it's inaugural year. I have no idea who our football team played that day. I just remember how much fun it was to go to a football game on campus after years of going to the Metrodome. I also loved watching the Gopher Volleyball team annihilate Penn State in three straight sets at home earlier this season.
What are you grateful for?
Wow. Where should I begin? I have so much to be grateful for, but I will try to keep it short. First, and foremost, I am grateful for my relationship with Jesus Christ. I became a Christian while I was in college and I continue to be amazed that God would choose to love a self-centered, egotistic person like me. He transformed me into a caring, others-oriented, follower of Christ, and I am eternally grateful. I am grateful for my two incredible kids Charley (21 months) and Xander (4 months). They keep me on my toes and help me to find joy in what some would call mundane. My husband, Aaron Horn. He is not at all the man I thought I would marry, but he is exactly who I needed. I am so thankful that he is mine! Lastly, I am grateful for my time as a student-athlete. Many of my closest friendships were forged during my time at the U of M. I learned the value of hard work and time management, and was blessed to have some of the greatest times of my life along the way.
What does Black History Month mean to you?
Black History Month is about honoring the men and women who paved the way for so many African-Americans like myself. If it weren't for some of the great historical figures and freedom fighters: Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver, Martin Luther King Jr, John Lewis (my son's namesake), and many others, we would not have many of the opportunities we so easily take for granted. Because of the lives of so many before me, I am able to vote, attend school, shop wherever I desire, use a public bathroom, and be in an interracial marriage. Black History Month is a time for me to reflect and be grateful for all that has been accomplished and also a painful reminder that we aren't done yet.
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