Tiffany Bess knows the dedication it takes to wear a uniform well. A softball player since the fourth grade, Bess led her Oconee County High School team in Watkinsville to state championships in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
In 2007, Georgia State University recruited the left fielder to don a Panthers uniform, offering her an athletic scholarship to pay the expenses not covered by her HOPE scholarship. That gave Bess a full ride financially through college, but hardly an easy one, because the other uniform she chose to wear is that of a nurse.
“That’s why I came to Georgia State,” said Bess, 22, a senior nursing student. “I knew I wanted to do something in the medical field. That just seemed smart in this economy.”
What clinched her decision was helping her mother through cancer treatment two years ago. She’s now in remission.
“Watching how the nurses cared for my mom, I knew that was the way I wanted to go,” she said.
Juggling the demands of being a college athlete and a student taking an intense nursing curriculum — with its labs and clinical rotations — was a challenge.
“Playing ball teaches you a lot of life lessons and one of the most important ones is time management,” Bess said. “The first day of the semester, I’d put every test, project and clinical shift on my calendar, as well as the team’s practices, weightlifting training and games.”
Last spring, she worked eight-hour shifts two days a week in the psychiatric unit at Grady Memorial Hospital and in the operating room and critical care units at Emory Healthcare. During other semesters, she woke up at 5:15 a.m. to work 12-hour shifts.
On a normal day, she was up by 6 a.m. for early-morning workouts or studying before classes and team practices. Fortunately, most softball games are on Saturdays and Sundays. Out-of-town series put her on the road from Friday night until Sunday night.
“The NCAA policy says that student-athletes must have one day a week off from training, but my days off were often the longest day of the week because I’d go in for an individual workout before my normal classes to make up for time I’d lost due to clinicals,” Bess said. “My teammates call me ‘the grandma’ of the team, because I’m usually in bed by 11 p.m.”
“It takes special qualities and traits to be able to accomplish all this at the same time, and Tiffany shows that maturity to find a way,” Georgia State head softball coach Roger Kincaid said. “Tiffany is disciplined in doing what she has to. She finds a way to do her conditioning and some individual practice separate from the team to stay prepared to do her best.”
While it was overwhelming sometimes, Bess called wearing two uniforms “an awesome experience. I wouldn’t have traded any of it.”
Fun on the field
One of her career highlights was the first game of her junior season when she came off the bench and blasted a two-run homer in the bottom of the 7th inning to help the Panthers rally for a 6-5 win over Auburn.
This year, Bess helped lead the Panthers win their first Colonial Athletic Association softball championship, driving in 23 runs, the third-most on the team. She turned on the power to hit 3 homers in four games in April.
At the same time, she made the dean’s list three times and the athletic director honor roll five times.
“I’ve had some amazing experiences on the field, and have learned that teamwork is just as important in nursing as it is in softball,” Bess said. “We would be nowhere without each other in the field, and the same is true in the hospital. You need to learn to play a leadership role because others are relying on you. It makes everyone’s life easier when they know they can count on their team.”
Bess has completed her four years of athletic eligibility, so she has hung up her softball uniform. She needs to take 18 credit hours to complete her nursing degree and plans to graduate in spring 2012.
“I told my teammates at the [season-ending] banquet that to live life without the game seemed like a terror to me, but I believe that when God closes a door he always opens a window,” she said.
While she will miss playing softball, Bess is looking forward to exploring emergency room and trauma care nursing. She believes her personality and mental make-up are suited to the fast pace of the ER.
“Playing ball and doing my best was always important to me, but nursing was always my No. 1 priority,” Bess said.
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