Chase Bartlett ('16): St. Edward's University

“Recently, I found a letter that Chase wrote in 2014; he listed his personal commitments. They were powerful, clear and worthy of who Chase was then and is today. Great people are not born, they are developed; they develop themselves; they are aware of the people, opportunities and circumstances surrounding them and they make every effort to maximize them. Chase is an excellent young man because he chooses to be so. I am very proud of Chase and his accomplishments and know that he has much more to offer.” -- Carol Hagar

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In his sophmore year at St. Edward’s University, ATA College Prep alum Chase Bartlett is making his mark on the Hilltopper community. On the road back to Austin, TX from TCU, where the Hilltoppers won the 2018 Men’s Tennis Heartland Conference Tournament, Chase took a moment to check in and let the ATA community know what he’s been up to lately, and what’s to come.

Feeling that his freshman year was too lite, Chase was determined to challenge himself in the coming semester.

“Firstly, be careful what you ask for! Haha. This semester has been excruciating at times—I'm taking 7 classes and have become much more involved. I am now a member of Alpha Phi Omega, the nationwide co-ed service fraternity (and the only athlete in my local chapter, I believe). I have been elected president of St. Edward's Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), which means that I now have the opportunity to start new initiatives on campus (some events that, executively, I can make mandatory for all teams). Coach Strecker and I are very excited about this, and think that we can find some really cool ways to improve the relationships between the athletic teams on campus, as well as finding some big-picture service ideas that could make a difference in the local community. In DII, SAAC also has the ability to vote directly on NCCA rules and play a big role in the legislative process.”

In addition to becoming more involved in extracurriculars, Chase has also made great strides in his academics. He was selected to present at a research conference at the University of Houston, became a member of the Honors Society for Religious and Theological Studies, and received an Outstanding Student of the Year Award for German. “Other work I did from fall is being published in the '17-18 edition of our school's academic journal (Arete). This is something that I am happy about, since only 5-ish people are published per academic year.”

Topping all of that however, was receiving the Summer Academic Excellence Award. “[This] is a scholarship allowing me to study abroad in Germany for two months at Freie Universität Berlin, a school ranked top-75 in the world. I am going to take two language intensive courses there and one course on German culture...I've wanted to study abroad really badly since my first day on campus, but didn't think I was going to have time while still playing tennis.”

Tennis is going well for Chase and the Hilltoppers this year. Chase has been playing line 1 in both singles and doubles, battling a few injuries, won the Heartland Conference Tournament, and was ranked #23 at the end of March.

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“Going to St. Edward's, I couldn't understand that a DII conference title would be something worth being excited about; after all, it's not even nationals, let alone a D1 national championship. Let me just say: that lack of understanding has vanished, along with St. Mary's hopes of a conference title. I have never felt more satisfied after a win than I did today, and for so many reasons. First, in my freshman year we were down 1-2 or 0-3 after doubles in literally 95% of our matches. We worked so hard to improve our doubles skills as a team over the past year, and today—when we needed it the most—we went up 3-0. It was not luck. Secondly, when you spend two years training with one specific thing in mind (more specifically, a thing that you haven't been able to get), you'll find yourself pretty happy with all the excruciating work you've put in with your teammates when no one else was watching. Third, and finally, you will recognize how much your DII conference title means when you finish celebrating with your teammates and see your coach 3 courts down with watery eyes (some would say "crying," but I don't know how he'd feel about me using that vocabulary). I don't know why, but that was probably one of the best moments of the year. I'll get emotional just thinking about it.”