LA GRANDE, Ore. - Student-athletes in the Cascade Collegiate Conference have long been recognized for their talents on the playing courts and fields, as well as their academic achievements.
In the “Where Are They Now” series the CCC provides updates on former student athletes from around the league who are making significant impacts in their professional careers and personal lives.
For our second installment the Cascade Conference caught up with former Eastern Oregon University women's soccer player Anna Bacon. Bacon graduated from EOU in 2006 with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration and a Bachelors of Art in Philosophy, Politics and Economics
. She was also named the Presidential Scholar. A native of McMinville, Ore., Anna currently lives in Spokane, Washington.
CC- How did you choose Eastern Oregon to continue your athletic and academic career?
AB- Graduating high school I knew that I wanted to continue my education, but I was unsure of where and what I wanted to study. Receiving the Paul McGrath Character Scholarship and learning that I would need shoulder surgery that year tipped my decision to choose OSU, to not play soccer, and to stay closer to home.
After only one term I was sure of two things: 1. Academically, I desired smaller class sizes and more access to my professors; I didn’t want to be only a name in a class of hundreds, and 2. Athletically, I realized how important being physically active and part of a team was to me and I wanted to continue my soccer career.
EOU was a young program looking for a goalkeeper, and the opportunity to compete again in the sport I had loved and played my entire life, motivated me greatly. I visited for my recruiting trip only a week following surgery during winter term, and although it was blustery and I was a goalkeeper in a full upper body brace, I felt welcomed and at home with the team. I knew then that EOU was the right space for me to grow in many senses and that it offered an environment near nature where I would thrive.
CC- What have you been doing since graduation?
AB- Since graduation I have been living in Spokane, WA, working to build vibrant communities, using food as a tool to improve individual health and in turn community health.
In 2007 I began working at a local organic food store and was quickly promoted to VP. Committed to establishing mutually beneficial business relationships with local organic farmers who don’t fit into traditional agriculture distribution systems, paying fair prices for high-quality, nutrient dense foods, and delivering those foods weekly to members homes in a csa style produce box, I increased urban access to local foods, improved affordability, and steadily grew our CSA style home delivery network to over 2000 members. In 2009 we expanded to open a gluten free deli and bakery, catering to people seeking flavorful whole foods free of additives and allergens.
Although I was successfully working and living gluten-free, I longed for the community that comes with sharing food. This desire, coupled with the realization that my generation and younger had lost basic food preparation skills inspired me to start hosting Sunday dinners in 2011. Experience had taught me that environment was crucial to learning and so I gathered local foods each Sunday and welcomed individuals from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds into my home with only the expectation that each accept the imperfect nature of themselves and others and that we all remain willing to play in the creation of our feast. The only dumb question was the one left unasked, and it became a space for learning kitchen skills and whole food preparations. Every Sunday for a year we took an evening from our busy lives to celebrate being human and the play we engaged in taught and nourished us on many levels.
On a Friday afternoon early that year I was rear-ended by an uninsured driver while waiting at a stoplight on a busy street in Spokane. My lower jaw was shattered and this left me without four front bottom teeth for two years. In this time I realized that I couldn’t work 80 hour weeks and healthily relate to myself and so I stepped down from my work and focused on healing. You don’t nurse a sprained ankle back to health by playing on it.
Now I finally have my smile back and I have begun to utilize my business skills in consulting, first in 2012 with another EOU student, Luke Moore, in Walla Walla at The Garden Vegan Cafe. I am looking forward to working with him again in 2013 to transition his thriving deli into becoming gluten free and producing their own gluten free breads and pastries.
CC- What were some of your best memories of Eastern Oregon University, both academically and athletically?
AB- Studying abroad in Siena, Italy absorbed and learning to speak a new language was a magical experience that continued to challenge my previous conceptions of my own strength and capabilities. Being immersed in a different culture and way of life was integral in my development as it helped me to better understand myself, apart from the society I lived in and to clarify my purpose. The more I learned about government the more I was interested in advocating for students rights, and I used my education to influence policies affecting students working for the ASEOU (Associated Students of Eastern Oregon University). In both of these memorable academic experiences, people, relationships, and community were central to continuing to build upon my self confidence.
My best athletic memories are filled with sweat, bruises, sprains, ice baths, determination, and camaraderie built upon shared trials, learning, and success. Pre-season triples were especially memorable, and I will never forget the annual 7+ mile run. As a goalkeeper and person who didn’t think of myself as enjoying long distance running, I wasn’t so sure how well I would fare, and even after my headphones broke halfway through the run, I didn’t give up. I finished, and I wasn’t last. I had to admit that I was capable of more than I thought possible, and that I even kind of enjoyed it. Working hard had it’s intrinsic rewards, and the meals shared after practice with fellow pre-season athletes or after games with the team while travelling were unforgettable.
CC- Who were some influential people in your life from EOU?
AB- I am incredibly grateful for so many of my relationships from EOU, but there are two people who immediately come to mind and whom I talk about when I tell my story: Professor Mark Webb, and Professor Jeff Dense.
I was taking Ethics, Politics, & Law from Professor Webb one of my first terms at EOU and although I was enjoying the class and did well in my writings, I had not yet found my voice to speak up in discussion. One day as I descended the steps of Ackerman Hall, we passed as he was entering, and instead of a friendly hello, he stopped me, addressed me by name, asked about my major (I was still undecided), and said that his daughter’s loved soccer and wanted to come see a game. Caught off guard and pleasantly dumbfounded, I had found myself face to face with the community I was seeking and a major I was excited about pursuing. I was embraced as a whole person and the people around me were challenging me to develop my skills to be the best me.
Professor Dense instructed some of my favorite and most challenging courses at EOU including Civil Liberties, and Constitutional Law, but it was Political Science 101 that left the greatest impression on me and my development as a student, where I learned to ask the right questions and gained invaluable research skills to make strong arguments. After returning from studying politics abroad in Italy in 2004 I had a renewed focus and drive, but my health was suffering to the point I was often bedridden. After months of appointments with Doctors and Specialists, enduring endless poking and prodding, no diagnosis had been reached. I was nauseated, fatigued, unable to eat, and fuzzy headed, I was frustrated and feeling disempowered by my experiences with traditional medicine. Having experience with a loved one who suffered similarly, Professor Dense asked me one day if I had heard of celiac disease. Research led me to the local naturopath’s office and produced positive results less than two weeks later. The truth is, I didn’t even have to wait for the results. I stopped eating gluten (the culprit of celiac disease) immediately and felt like a completely different person in only a matter of days. My journey in creating wellness with food had only just begun, and it was the relationships at EOU that nurtured me to ask the right questions and to be an advocate for personal power in creating good health.
CC- How did participating in college athletics shape who you are today?
AB- During college, the challenges I faced from a career ending second shoulder surgery and learning to write left-handed to the rapid decline in health and diagnosis of celiac disease, convinced me that the ability to overcome adversity is often rooted in choice. Participating in college athletics taught me the self-confidence and self-discipline to choose with determination, and the support of my professors empowered me to successfully overcome. In college, I chose to make the best of the challenges I faced and sought to improve the experience of students around me and I continue making the same choices in my professional life, applying the principles that make a successful athlete to living a happy life while seeking to improve my community. Being an athlete from an early age has shaped and strengthened the woman I am today both literally and metaphorically; with a positive attitude and smile I embrace change and challenge because in life as in sport, with intentful practice there is continued growth.
Anna continues her good work in promoting overall wellness and lives by the motto "Eat well. Be well. Do good."