A swimmer, an involved student, a hard worker, and a smile that would light up any room. Team captain and senior in environmental science and political science Alex Gustafson was awarded with a spot on the 2014 Women Impacting ISU Calendar.

Dr. Schmidt, a political science professor who Gustafson was a teaching assistance for, and Jason Chrystal, her political science adviser, both nominated her as an impacting woman at Iowa State. They sent in two letters of recommendation, and from there it was up to the selection committee.

Gustafson was selected out of 64 applicants. 12 women were honored with spots on the calendar and she became the first swimmer to receive such an honor.

“It was a tremendously humbling experience. I have just felt so much support from everyone in the Ames community and my home community, and to be amongst the women that were selected for this was incredible,” Gustafson said.

She is also involved in several things outside of swimming.

Gustafson is co-president in the Green Umbrella, which is a sustainability club on campus that works on teaching the community and the students how to better improve their sustainability.

Another involvement that Gustafson has on her résumé is her activity as a teaching assistant. She was a TA in American Government, Poli Sci 215, and a graduate-undergraduate 400+ level class called E-Democracy.

On top of all her involvement at the University, Gustafson also works for the Outdoor Recreation Services, which takes care of renting out kayaks, snowshoes, cross country skis, and intramural stuff. Another thing the Outdoor Rec does is take weekend and weeklong trips into the backcountry.

“It’s pretty unique that I see the student-athlete side of things, but I also see the student organization side of things, the employee side of things, the academic side of things, and I think learning about all those different areas at the University has just been awesome. I’ve met so many great people,” Gustafson said.

For four years she has been putting in the work on the swimming aspect, and has become a role model for many young women at Iowa State. She has an interesting message to those that follow her.

“If you set your mind to [something,] if you go after it, you can make a difference,” Gustafson said. “I was humbled by the people I was around. I think it shows that Iowa State is dedicated to gender equality, dedicated to gender success, and I think it shows that if you have a dream, go for it. Someone will notice that you’re making a difference.”

Coach Sorenson has coached Gustafson for four years and watched her grow as a leader. He describes her leadership as a “very steady influence on the team.” Sorenson also said her lasting impact will be her huge smile.

“It’s a great honor. It’s not so much about her swimming and diving team. It’s more about Alex and what she does overall in the University,” Sorenson said. “We’ve had kids get honors, but it’s just neat for Alex because she’s worked for it and earned it.”

Gustafson plans to take a year off after her senior year is over. She is currently looking at internships, and she wants to do some personal traveling. In the coming year, she will apply for grad school.

“I’m just looking forward to whatever adventure is ahead of me,” Gustafson said.

Gustafson and the rest of the ISU swimming and diving team will head to Cedar Falls Friday to take on the UNI Panthers.