Bowling Green State University Athletics
Evans a Teacher as Well as a Golfer
April 28, 2004 | Women's Golf
April 28, 2004
By JACK CARLE, Sentinel Sports Editor - The law profession's loss is education's gain.
During the fall of her sophomore year at Bowling Green State University, Kari Evans decided she was not cut out for business law.
"Econ(omics) really threw me for a loop," she said. "I was in all these business classes ... I just didn't enjoy anything that I was doing in those classes."
Instead an appreciation for English, reading and writing, plus an aunt who is an English teacher in Brooklyn, New York, and a role model sparked Evans' interest in becoming an educator.
"I figured that maybe education would be a better answer," Evans said.
Now, the senior from Louisville, Ky. is on track to graduate in December with a major in integrated language arts. Her major is a 4 1/2 year program and she was able to catch up by taking as many as six classes a semester.
It's even more amazing that Evans is close to graduation considering she was a four-year member of the Falcons' women's golf team, which plays during both the fall and spring semesters.
"She's been a great student-athlete,' said Kurt Thomas, BG's head women's golf coach. "She sets her mind to it and manages her time very well."
Evans' dream is to teach in an inner-city school system and start a grassroots women's golf program at her school. Evans' first choice would be to teach in Chicago. But she may work in the Teach for America program.
"It's almost like a two-year apprenticeship. They have schools set up in the big cities around the country that will take teachers in for two years," she said about Teach for America.
"That could put me in any city."
After being raised in a military family and having to move nine times, Evans says she's "not afraid to go somewhere new."
Her love of golf comes from her high school coach Kevin Brown, who died tragically last year.
"I had an awesome high school golf coach," Evans said. "He was really instrumental in getting me involved in college golf."
It's in Brown's memory that she wants to teach others about golf.
"I want to use what he gave me and give it to my students down the road," Evans said. "It is a dream right now, but I could see making it a reality.
"I see how much it has helped me grow as a person. I'd like to carry that over to the students that I teach."
"She has always had the desire to educate and give back to society," Thomas said. "I'm confident she can handle anything she desires to take on."
Evans is one of the top student-athletes at BG. She has a 3.76 grade-point-average and was one three finalists for the top female senior scholar-athlete award, given annually.
"I just have a really good work ethic. I'm very organized and I keep up-to-date with everything that I have due," she said. "I try to pace myself accordingly, so I don't leave everything until the last minute."
It's not unusual for Evans and her teammates to study in the van on road trips and also at the hotels between rounds.
"She made my job easy as a coach. I didn't have to worry about whether she was going to class," Thomas said.
A strong short game allowed Evans to be a productive player for the Falcons.
"I'm not a great golfer for the length that is required in college golf," Evans said. "Over the four years, I've become better ... I really had to compete and earn my position.
"Most of the people I was playing against would hit irons into greens and I would always be hitting a wood, and that just puts you at a disadvantage," she continued. "But it always goes to show how important the short game is. I could still score."
Thomas said Evans' distance has improved during her college career, and the short game was her strength.
"She was very consistent," Thomas said.
Evans is currently doing her methods teaching at Bowling Green High School and she'll student teach there in the fall with sophomores in Honors English. Evans will take three classes this summer and also teach a children's class on Harry Potter at Terra Community College in Fremont.
