Student Spotlight:
KATE COHEN Program Sport Psychology Ph.D. Hometown Jackson, New Jersey
Kate Cohen, a doctoral student in FSU’s sport psychology program, is also a nationally ranked powerlifter. Currently ranked 14th in the nation in the 47kg weight class, she held an American record for deadlift, squat and bench as a junior and collegiate lifter. She also holds New Jersey and Virginia state records for powerlifting. Cohen is currently a teaching assistant in the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems where she teaches the undergraduate Introduction to Sport Psychology class. She earned two bachelor’s degrees (exercise science and health and physical education) and a master’s degree in health promotion from the University of Delaware. How did you get into powerlifting? I played sports growing up and was a competitive soccer player. During a game, I tore my ACL and had to begin physical therapy. During this time, my physical therapist took me under his wing. The first time I ever touched a barbell and learned how to squat, bench and deadlift was with him, towards the end of my knee rehab. After nine months of physical therapy (and learning all about powerlifting), I was cleared to go back to playing soccer. Two weeks later, I tore my other ACL. After another seven months of physical therapy and continuing to work on “The Big Three” lifts, I realized at 15 years old, “Hey, I’m good at this!” and have stuck with it ever since. I’ve been competing in powerlifting for the past 12 years. It’s my therapy to be in the gym and lifting weights. My fiancé is a gym owner and a coach. Over the past four years, he has helped me to become an even more knowledgeable and stronger lifter. I enjoy leading this active and healthy lifestyle, and I love competing. And truthfully, it is all I have ever known. Our bodies and minds are adaptation machines, so why not test their limits a bit?
What got you interested in sport psychology? I have always been interested in all aspects of athletics—nutrition, the education side of it—but I had a growing interest in learning more about what makes one person drive themselves more than another person. That’s kind of what started the road to sport psychology. There’s a mental toughness component I really love, and I’ve always thrived in that area, just pushing myself. I wanted to conduct research in that area, so with my master’s thesis I focused on that. I was the only girl on the boys’ wrestling team and in my high school, and there was a lot of chatter about a girl being on the team. This only allowed me to focus and stick to what I wanted to do. I was determined to keep coming back every single day and to compete with these guys who were next to me. It was about proving to myself
Photo courtesy of Win Everything Media
THE TORCH - COLLEGE OF EDUCATION MAGAZINE | 17
