Northwestern Lehigh High School 2016 graduate Vanessa Blose had a unique college experience. She was a student-athlete at Moravian College, competing in both the indoor and outdoor track and field teams, but she also was pursuing a passion as a firefighter. Moravian allowed her to do both.

“I did not have the typical four-year career that most college athletes have,” said Blose. “I am a firefighter and EMT with the Germansville Fire Company, and this led me to make some tough decisions during my track career at Moravian. I gave up my sophomore season to complete my EMT certification, and my senior season was even shorter than everyone else’s because I started the season late due to my Firefighter 1 training.”

She succeeded through hard work and with the support of her team.

“I am so thankful that I chose Moravian College because my coaches were incredibly understanding of this and were willing to work with me,” said Blose. “The team always felt like family to me, very supportive. We always had a lot of fun and kept a positive, goal-driven and competitive attitude.

“I chose Moravian because it was close to home, which allowed me to commute to campus while being able to keep my commitment to the fire company. I love their education program that did a fantastic job preparing me for a teaching career. In all, it’s a beautiful campus with extraordinary people that made my four years a wonderful experience.”

Blose competed in the throwing events for four seasons at Moravian, participating in the shot put and weight throw indoors and the shot put, discus, javelin and hammer throw outdoors.

She placed sixth in shot put at the Landmark Conference Indoor Championships in February. She placed sixth at that meet last season in shot put while helping her team to a victory in the 4x200.

Blose’s career best in shot put was 33 feet, 6 1/2 inches. That came in the 2019 Landmark Indoor Championships.

Her head coach, Jesse Baumann, had high praise for his recent graduate.

“Vanessa took a short hiatus from the team during her time here due to a lot of obligations and other responsibilities she juggles back at home, but [throwing] coach Jon [D’Ottavio] and I were extremely happy when she rejoined us her junior season at a time when our team was taking hits in many events,” said Baumann. “We were thinner in the throws and she helped to score points for us and contribute to our narrow team wins in both seasons.

“She always demanded perfection from herself and at times was almost too hard on herself but the silver lining to that is she’s never content with being satisfactory, which is a great example to set for the team and certainly to carry on into her teaching career and life beyond college.”

Blose credits her time at Northwestern for her career at Moravian. She learned to balance academics and athletics in high school and acquired the time management skills that allowed her to become a firefighters.

“I cannot give enough praise to Northwestern for preparing me for college,” Blose said. “On an athletic level, Michael Kistler is a phenomenal coach. Coach Kistler became my throws coach my junior year and is truly the best coach I have ever had. I set a goal to be the Colonial League shot put champion and coach Kistler went the extra mile to help me achieve that. He spent countless hours in the weight room and at the track with me. I can’t tell you how many times we were the last ones leaving track practice and locking up the stadium.

“On an academic level, I appreciate how Northwestern held me to a high level of academic excellence. I felt well-prepared for the college workload. This school absolutely taught me all the skills I needed to be successful in a college classroom. In fact, I felt better prepared than most students, especially when it came to literary analysis and essay writing.”

She was named to the Landmark Conference Winter and Fall Academic Honor Rolls three times apiece, and she made Moravian’s dean’s list seven times. She is a member of Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society. Blose graduated with a degree in secondary education and English with a minor in history.

She hopes to find a career in teaching and coaching.