Intercollegiate Athletics Award Recipients
Robert L. and William P. McCahill Award
ELIZABETH K. KOBERSTEIN,
NURS '14
Madison, Wis.
Elizabeth appreciates it when people compliment the strength of her character but graciously declines any such praise. Instead, she says, you should really spend more time with my parents.
Her mother is fighting Parkinson’s disease but still insists on handling everyday tasks such as mowing the lawn or carrying heavy groceries. She attended every one of Koberstein’s volleyball matches her senior year because, as Elizabeth says, she doesn’t want to miss any of the fun.
Her father, a veteran of the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, has been for two years fighting a battle against metastatic lung cancer. “He fights to say, ‘I love you,’ after each visit, even if it is the only thing he is able to say to me that day,” Elizabeth says.
Given the main source of her inspiration, it should be no surprise that she chose a profession that allows her to make a career out of the act of giving back. She recently began her first nursing job, a one-year residency at Milwaukee's Zablocki VA Medical Center.
“What I like the most about nursing is being able to make a difference in someone’s life, often when they are most vulnerable,” Elizabeth says. “I feel purpose in being able to be a difference for someone in that time.”
In addition to her success on the court at Marquette, Elizabeth was a two-time Big East All-academic performer and the 2013–14 Big East Scholar-athlete Sport Excellence Award winner for women's volleyball.
“I was blessed to have many people behind me, ready to help me every step of the way,” she says. “Marquette facilitated my growth as a student, athlete and person.”
