Life Outside the Classroom.

Life Outside the Classroom

By Jessica Steen

    Between the classrooms and the pools, Professor Victoria Downey stays plenty busy doing her passion she loves most, teaching.

Originally from Merriam, Kansas, the now Minneapolis resident currently teaches Geography here at Anoka Ramsey Community College and Synchronized swimming at the University of Minnesota. Three years ago, Downey relocated from Lawrence, Kansas where she was in school at the University of Kansas, to Minneapolis to work on her Ph. D. at the University of Minnesota. She soon discovered that teaching was what she wanted to do in life. "I first taught as a Graduate Teaching Assistant during my Master's Program at the University of Kansas and immediately loved it" says Downey. "Teaching offers me the opportunity to share my passion with others. I love being able to interest people in the world around them and offer insights (however small) into how the world works." Along with all of her schooling here in the states, she also got to travel to Queensland, Australia to study abroad for five months.

          During her sophomore year as an undergraduate student, Downey realized then that she wanted to major in Geography. She tells us "at the time I was majoring in Journalism but taking a number of Geography classes and they just resonated with me more" Adding to that statement, she laughs as she says the once popular television show and game "Where in the world is Carmen San Diego" was very big when she was younger, and jokingly says shes convinced that a number of her fellow classmates in Geography got into that field as well as a result of that program.

          After her discovery of teaching, coaching soon became apart of her life too. Downey has been coaching synchronized swimming for about last 12 years, starting with the Kansas City Sea Sprites, which is an age group program back in Kansas, and now is the head coach of the U. of M.'s synchronized swim team. Water sports are her strength a long with the rest of her family. "My mom is a big fan of the water so she got my brother and I in the pool at a very young age" says Downey, "Apparently I was jumping off the 3 meter diving board by myself at the age of three, and joined the Merriam Dolphins at age five. At 12 I started sychronized swimming with the K.C. Sea Sprites".

          Twleve years later, Swimming is still a hobby for Downey as she continues to coach. "It's a time-consuming sport but also an intersting one which is probably why I've kept with it for so long" says Downey. Keeping busy with her swimmers, ranging in age from the Freshman to Senior classes, she enjoys being around a young, refreshing crowd. During the season which begins in September and ends in March, practice is held three times a week resulting in eight hours at the poolside. Along with serving time at the pool with her swimmers and keeping orderly with parents and traveling for meets, she still serves fifteen hours of class time alone, not including the excess time she takes to prepare lectures for two new additional classes she has taken on in the semester. "Im not exactly sure how many hours exactly that all boils down to" says Downey, "but suffice it to say that I stay pretty busy between synchro and school!"

Transcript of Story Six

1.    Where are you from, and how long have you lived in Minnesota? What town do you live in now?( I know Kansas but cant remember where lol)

I’m originally from Merriam, Kansas, a small suburb of Kansas City, however I also spent a lot of time in Lawrence, Kansas, about 45 minutes down the road from KC while in school at the University of Kansas.  I moved to Minneapolis three years ago to work on my Ph.D. at the U and I currently live in Minneapolis, near Prospect Park.

2.     What made you decide to teach? Here at A.R.C.C.?

I first taught as a Graduate Teaching Assistant during my Master’s Program at the University of Kansas and immediately loved it.  I think my interest in teaching might be partly related to the fact that I did a bit of theater while in high school.  As you may know, there’s a lot of similarities between acting and teaching!  Beyond that, however, I’ve always loved geography as a field and teaching offers me the opportunity to share my passion with others.  I love being able to interest people in the world around them and offer insights (however small!) into how the world works.  Additionally, it’s hard not to love teaching when you get to be around young, energetic people all of the time!

3. How long have you been coaching? Were you apart of a swim team in school as well? Or any other sports?

I've been coaching synchronized swimming for around twelve years, first for the Kansas City Sea Sprites, an Age Group program, and then for the University of Minnesota.  My first year in the state I was a volunteer coach for the U and I took over the Head Coaching position last year.  I also previously coached swimming for my local summer swim team, the Merriam Dolphins, in Kansas.  Most of my personal experience has been limited to water sports (apparently I am inept on land!).  My mom is a big fan of the water so she got my brother and I in the pool at a very young age.  Apparently I was jumping off of the 3 M diving board by myself at the age of three (I don't remember this so it's all hearsay!) and I joined the Merriam Dolphins at five.  I also dove for a while (my brother was actually a very successful diver who was at one point featured in Sports Illustrated after winning four consecutive Kansas State Diving Championships and breaking the record that had been in place since 1977).  I, unfortunately, was afraid of hitting the board so I stopped diving after a few years.  At twelve I started synchronized swimming with the KC Sea Sprites, an activity that I really enjoyed as it played into many of my strengths and interests: swimming, music, flexibility, performance, etc.  It's a time-consuming sport but also an interesting one which is probably why I've kept with it for so long!  Besides swimming and synchro, the only other "sport" that I do consistently is yoga.

4. What made you decide to become a Geo teacher? What was your most favorite place you've traveled?

I decided to major in Geography as an undergraduate student during my sophomore year.  At the time I was majoring in journalism but taking a number of Geography classes and they just resonated with me more than anything else I had taken.  Wanderlust runs in my family--my nearly 95-year-old grandma is still a world traveler--so I think the idea that I could learn about different places and peoples really interested me.  In addition to this, both the computer game and the TV Show "Where In the World Is Carmen San Diego" were very big when I was younger.  I'm convinced that a number of my comrades in Geography got into the field as a direct result of that program!  I really didn't decide that I wanted to teach Geography until sometime during my Master's Program, but the geography bent was always there!

In terms of places I've traveled, my favorite experience was probably on Fraser Island in Queensland, Australia.  I studied abroad in Australia for five months and absolutely loved the place in general.  My friends and I visited Fraser Island over Spring Break in 2004.  Fraser is the largest sand island in the world and was a former logging area.  As such, it has a number of trails that run through it that require a 4WD vehicle to traverse.  We went on a tour there, as part of an ecotourism initiative, and I was transfixed.  The island has some of the highest numbers of sharks that pass by it due to migratory patterns of the sharks' prey, so you are told not to go into the water more than calf deep.  Additionally, from one point on the island you can watch whales breach, sea turtles and schools of fish, manta rays, and more from a rocky outcrop way above the sea.  The island is also home to a number of the world's basin and perched dune lakes, all of which are pristine and gorgeous.  There are so many amazing things about the island that it would be hard to recount them all...the only catch is that the island also boasts a number of HUGE spider species, including a bird eater.  A friend of mine and I unfortunately ran into a couple of these monsters while in the bathroom and I think it scarred me for life.  They're so big that, at night, when crawling around on the ceiling, they sometimes can't support their own body weight and they'll therefore fall on you in the middle of the night!  Needless to say, I slept on a bottom bunk that night...

5. How much time do you think you devote to the swim team each week ? To your students?


In terms of teaching, this semester I have five sections, or 15 credit hours of teaching.  Two of the classes are brand new to me which means that in addition to actually delivering lectures, answering emails and helping people during office hours I also have to prep my lectures!  I'm not sure how many hours exactly that all boils down to, but suffice it to say that I stay pretty busy between synchro and school!

6. What is your favorite thing about teaching? Coaching?

Like I mentioned earlier, I think my favorite thing about teaching is getting to be around young people who are generally immensely interesting, intelligent, and generally fun to be around.  My favorite moments have always been those where students tell me how much they learned from my class.  Geography is a discipline that few major in, so I understand that most of my students will be pursuing other fields.  That said, I clearly think the field is important so if I can get my students to take anything away from my class and make them think critically about the world around them, I'm stoked!

Coaching for me has many of the same positive attributes.  Because we spend so much time together, the synchro team becomes a sort of a family.  Our season just concluded a couple of weeks ago and it's actually terribly jarring not to see my athletes three times a week!  When you spend so much time together you're bound to either intensely love or intensely hate each other.  Luckily for us, it's been the former!

7. What grade are your swimmers?
My swimmers are all students at the U, so I've got the full gamut of freshmen to seniors.  It's a great age group, particularly because they keep me abreast of very important developments in pop culture :-).

8. Best swim team moment? Best A.R.C.C. moment?

This is tough...there are so many great moments!  For synchro, one of my athletes this year placed second overall at the US Collegiate National Meet in Buffalo, NY in the D Figure Category.  That is a really big deal for us as a team as well as her individually, so I was very proud.  On a slightly sillier note, last year at our annual home meet in January we managed to get Goldie to come to the meet.  He came during the Figures portion, which is an immensely dull section of the meet where the athletes all where black suits and white caps and silently perform figures in front of a panel of judges.  Goldie, being Goldie, had to mess around the entire time and made quite a scene with an inflatable chair in the lap pool.  Needless to say, it was hysterical.

At ARCC I would say my favorite moments were in conducting the Globe-o-Mania Trivia Bowl for my Physical Geography sections last semester.  Designed as an extra credit opportunity, Globe-o-Mania asks geography related trivia questions that are to be answered by small groups of students.  It's a nice ending point for the semester, a lot of fun, and also an opportunity for me to let loose with my ridiculous geography facts.  I just hope the students enjoy(ed) it as much as I do(did)!