Being a scholar-athlete at Florida Tech takes an incredible amount of hard work and dedication to excel both in the classroom and on the field.
 
In this Scholar-Athlete Spotlight, we are featuring Florida Tech swimmer, Nathaniel Allen, a senior who is majoring in neuropsychology. The Houston, Texas native was part of the 200 free relay team that finished fifth in the B Final at the 2022 Sunshine State Conference Championships. Allen has been named to the Sunshine State Conference Commissioner's and Florida Tech Athletic Director's Honor Roll in each of his first three years at Tech, earning the accomplishment this past year with a 4.0 GPA. He also earned a Distinguished Student Scholar award this past May.
 
We sat down with Nathaniel to talk about the appeal of neuropsychology to him and how he makes it all work during a busy and intense swimming schedule.
 
What's your major at Florida Tech and why did you choose this? Is it something that you've always wanted to be a part of?
I'm studying with a concentration in neuropsychology. To me, psychology is like the science of exploring questions we once thought only philosophy could talk about and making that bridge from purely conjecture and logical argument into a science. And in particular, for me, adding neuroscience in that way, is something that is just so fascinating to me, and it's such a new field. We're asking and getting answers for questions that we thought would never be possible to get and then especially here at a school where everyone is so interested in what's out in space, and what's around us out that way, which I think is fascinating, it's such a unique place to be studying what's in here (points to head) instead.
 
Growing up in Houston, what was it about Florida Tech that drew you here?
So as an athlete, I came on a recruiting trip, and whenever I met my teammates here, and I met the coaching staff and I walked around the campus, it pretty clearly felt like home, and it was pretty hard to sway that decision as I went to other schools.
 
How do you plan to use your degree after graduation?
I'm planning on pursuing a doctorate so I can further my own research. Whether that lands me in the private sector or I stay in academia and work as a professor somewhere, I don't have a firm decision but as long as I'm continuing my own education through my research, I will be happy. 
 
What are some of the things that you've done in classes here at Florida Tech that you've enjoyed?
Well, I love writing and one of the requirements for your higher-level psychology courses are comprehensive papers on the topic. Typically, of your choosing within the course topic, of course. So, the opportunity to really dive into recent literature within those fields, and those specialties and become a little bit closer to an expert within that specific range is something that I've greatly appreciated. It's taken me down rabbit holes that I thought I would never have gone on before. And really, for my own edification, it's such a fascinating and pleasurable experience.
 
How do you keep everything balanced once the season starts?
So, the coaching staff and professors all understand that you're trying to walk this fine line and keep this balance. And while of course, it is unimaginably difficult when you get to the middle of the season and those mornings are lining up and you're just exhausted mentally and physically, there's so much support around you both from the coaching staff and professors like I said, but also your teammates are going through it with you. So, there's always somebody to talk to if you need to. The professors understand if you are going to be out for a meet or something like that. Coaches understand if you have to miss because you have to do a meeting for your research team, things like that. That everything is there available to make the balance work.
 
How has being a collegiate athlete prepared you for what you're doing now and what do you take from swimming that you apply to your studies?
Of course! So, being a collegiate athlete generally, and I think especially for swimming, teaches such an intense form of discipline. Where even if I find myself slipping behind some things or one class or another, I'm so used to having to juggle so many things at once that being able to toss one thing up a little bit higher, so I can catch the balls that are about to drop, is something that I have so much practice with at this point, that I think once I graduate and I go on to further my own education and get into research I can't see it being any different. I'm sure it'll be different in some aspects, but as far as the management skills that I've learned through doing things here, it's prepared me.
 
What advice would you give to an athlete that's looking to come here that might get into neuropsychology?
I think this is important for anybody but do your best to be certain of what you want to do, but don't hold on to it too tightly. I came in as a biomedical engineering (major) and whenever COVID hit and things started switching around, I had time to really think about what I was doing; as much as I found biomedical engineering fascinating, I realized that I had a real passionate love for psychology, and I wanted to transfer into that. And it wasn't an impossible choice to make, and it wasn't too difficult of a situation to switch into. But having an idea of where you might want to go is super important.
Once you get here, make an effort to communicate with your professors, talk to them, and get to know them personally. I, maybe presumptuously, consider my professors my friends and so I talk to them, you know somewhat casually about things outside of the classroom. Maybe I'm just talking to them about what I'm reading on my own, or they're recommending things for me to read. That's how I got into the research lab that I'm working in, and also, I got advice for my thesis. So, making use of the professors available to you, especially in a small school like this, is I think the most important thing you can do here.
 
The 2022-23 season is less than a month away, how do you feel about the team and what are you looking forward to the most?
So, with my senior season, and the team being bigger than it's ever been before, I am nothing but excited to see where we go here. I think we're kind of in uncharted waters with how young the team is, and how much potential we have here. And being in such a competitive division and conference in particular, I think the competition will be amazing. I think we have so much growth ahead of us in just this season alone. I'm really excited to see where it takes us!