By Sydni Whitfield
September 26, 2022
From going to early morning swim practices to morning classes, freshman Computer Science major Ian Redman has a full schedule that requires intentional balance – this was especially needed after just the first week of classes when he traveled to Peru to compete in a swimming championship. Redman grew up in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and is now an international student at Ouachita Baptist University.
As Redman was thinking about college, he kept swimming in mind. “They told me that if I wanted to keep pursuing sports, the US would be the place to go,” Redman said. Now that he is here, Redman only has positive things to say about his experience, his team and his coaches. “It’s been great. I’ve loved it so far. Everyone is really friendly,” Redman said. The small town of Arkadelphia was quite the culture shock for him after growing up in the city of Tegucigalpa. “It is very different here,” Redman said.
While he has enjoyed his time here so far, he has experienced some homesickness. “I miss the culture, specifically the food,” Redman said. After just spending a week at Ouachita, Redman flew out to Peru to compete in the 2022 World Junior Swimming Championship. He met up with some of his teammates from high school, and traveled with them from there. “It was really exciting. All the best 18 and under swimmers in the world are all in one building. Getting to see all these people my age working so hard really motivated me. Seeing what the best do makes you want to become the best,” Redman said. Overall, the championship was successful. He improved his time and his heat. In his heat, he came in second place. The event lasted for five days, and in the meantime, Redman had to also balance his homework load. Thankfully, since it was just the second week of freshman year, he only had to catch up on the content that was covered while he was gone, not homework or tests.
As the semester has continued, balancing his workload and swim practices has become a bit tougher. “We are busy all the time,” Redman said. Despite this, Redman has still been able to enjoy all his classes and professors. Redman is now looking forward to his time at Ouachita where he has the opportunity to intentionally train and become a better version of himself.
