Everyday Champion Erika Aufiero
April 28, 2016 | Women's Gymnastics
By Brooks Hatch
OSUBeavers.com
Whatever Erika Aufiero is involved in – be it gymnastics, academics, student groups or other extra-curricular activities – you can be certain of one thing.
The degree of difficulty will be a 10.0.
The personable senior from Sparks, Nev., never backs away from a challenge, whether the venue is Gill Coliseum, Austin Hall, or a remote village in the Dominican Republic. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well, from the front lines.
That's just how she's wired.
“I think leadership is leading by example,” Aufiero said in a recent interview from Austin Hall, where the finance major in the Oregon State College of Business spends much of her time. “It's not a dictatorship, where someone has more authority than someone else and they can just sit back, relax and tell people what to do.
“The best way to lead is by example. [In gymnastics], if you work hard, and others see you working hard, obviously they are going to want to work hard with you.
“The same goes for school. If you are studying and have your nose in your books, other people will see you are studying, they will hop on that train and study right along with you.”
Aufiero's impressive resume of athletic, academic, leadership and service accomplishments at the local, conference and national levels make her an Everyday Champion.
“Erika was chosen for this award for her excellent leadership skills, within her team and among all student-athletes,” said Kimya Massey, OSU's Senior Associate Athletic Director, Student-Athlete Development. “She is respected for who she is as a person, as well as an All-American athlete.”
The mission of the Everyday Champions Program is to develop student-athletes into individuals ready to excel in today's competitive environment so they leave Corvallis educated, confident, connected and well-prepared for the personal and professional challenges they'll face throughout their lives.
OSU has designed the Everyday Champions Program to facilitate the growth in the five areas designated by the former NCAA CHAMPS Life Skills Program: Athletic Excellence, Academic Excellence, Character & Leadership Development, Career Development and Community Service.
Aufiero has flourished in every area.
At OSU, she is a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), an outlet for student-athletes to find community service opportunities, networking events, mentors, and other extra-curricular activities that are often difficult to participate in because of their busy schedules.
She and former football player Malik Gilmore formed a new Student-Athlete Investment Club, mentored by COB finance professor Raymond Brooks.
“Athletes get a stipend,” she said. “We try to figure out how to take that money and use it for our future. Professor Brooks teaches us the ins-and-outs of trading, stocks and exchange-traded funds. We are just learning day-by day how to invest our money.”
She's also involved with OSU SportUp, a club started by OSU football alum Taylor Kavanaugh. In SportUp, student-athletes meet to pool and polish their entrepreneurial ideas and discuss ways to turn them into reality.
“It's a great outlet for athletes to open their brains, to think outside of the box and find some solutions to maybe start changing the world, invention by invention, one idea at a time,” Aufiero said.
She also volunteered in the Dominican Republic on the 2015 Beavers Without Borders trip, and is a member of the 2016 BWB group that will return to that Caribbean nation this summer.
On the conference and national stages, Aufiero:
• Was a first-team All-American on bars in 2015 after placing 11th in the Event Finals at the NCAA Championships.
• Was a second-team Pac-12 selection on vault in 2015.
• Earned second-team Pac-12 honors on bars in 2013.
• Earned honorable-mention Pac-12 All-Academic honors in 2014 and 2015, the first two years she was eligible for conference postseason academic plaudits.
• Was named a National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches Scholastic All-American in 2013.
“Erika is not afraid to speak her mind or find ways to help others and motivate people,” Massey said. “She is the unquestioned leader on her team, despite tearing her ACL earlier this year,” an injury that sidelined her for the entire 2015-16 season.
“She maintains a positive attitude and continues to push her teammates and remain involved in various activities and programs within the athletic department and on campus. She is a true Everyday Champion because of her passion, leadership and fearlessness.”
One of her academic mentors is Brooks, a former OSU diver whose understanding of the time demands placed on student-athletes by their sport helped them develop a close relationship.
“We just clicked right off the bat and he understood what it was like to be a student-athlete,” Aufiero said. “He's helped me all the way through.”
Brooks said his athletic background made him cognizant of the balancing act student-athletes face in competing in their sport and finding time to attend class, finish projects, and be engaged in the classroom.
“It is particularly grateful to me to see a student-athlete like Erika doing such a good job in this area,” Brooks said. “She proved herself in the classroom on her own. She immediately picked up it was important to participate and be engaged in class, to work with her classmates on projects.”
Another indicator of success is Aufiero's upcoming summer internship with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the largest and most prestigious accounting firms in the world. She will work in San Diego.
“Internships are very competitive for the accounting and finance students,” Brooks said. “They are extremely important for their resumes” when they graduate and start looking for jobs.
“I'm particularly proud she was able to obtain this internship. It's just one more indication of how bright she is, and how focuses she is in her career and in athletics.
“A finance and accounting major is one of the most challenging fields. Class time requires a lot of student participation. The topics we discuss and the competition is extremely high-level. Our best students in the College of Business are in the accounting and finance discipline. Erika is competing against the very best we have academically at Oregon State.”
Aufiero said he knew from a young age that academics was her ticket to a scholarship and a college education. She learned the importance of time-management from her parents, Sylvia and Richard Aufiero, at a young age.
So, she wasn't overwhelmed when the competition and schoolwork got harder when she graduated from high school, and club gymnastics, to college and the Pac-12.
“I was a very busy child, in dance and in gymnastics, and I had to juggle my schoolwork,” she said. “Time-management was something I grew up with, a lifestyle I've always known.
“My parents were very good at making sure that after practice we went straight home and did our homework,” followed by dinner and bed. “Then we'd wake up and do the same thing the next day.
“Coming to college, with that background, it was pretty easy to balance my gymnastics and my schoolwork. It was what I'd always known.”
Her competitive athletic career will end after next season. However, she said knowing a professional athletic career wasn't in the cards has helped her focus on her academic goals.
“I knew this would be my last four years of gymnastics, so I've taken my academics seriously to set me up for the future,” she said. “I was lucky to land an internship,” at PwC. “Hopefully it sets me up for the future,” following her June, 2017, graduation.
“In five or 10 years I'd love to be with a major accounting firm, taking on that career. I know the education I got here will really benefit me in my future.”
Professor Brooks said he has no doubts Aufiero will, to use a gymnastics analogy, stick the landing in her professional career.
“She has acquired great skill sets as an athlete,” Brooks said. “She can use those skills to drive her to the very top of her field. I have the greatest admiration for her.”
Players Mentioned
