Theresa Kurtz

I was fortunate enough to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up at a young age. I knew in elementary school that communication and sports were two of my passions. I played sports growing up and was never afraid of being in front of a camera or crowd.

My two hobbies continued into high school and even followed me to Washington State University. I chose to be a Cougar because of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. I learned everything there is to know about public relations and graduated in 2008.

After graduating, I moved outside of Washington for the first time in my life. I landed in Fresno, Calif. with a job at Fresno State. With the Bulldogs, I found that it was possible to combine my passions of sports and communication into a profession. I've been lucky enough to work with football, baseball, women's basketball and soccer. In the past four years, I have watched the 'Dogs win six conference championships and play in five NCAA tournaments. I even witnessed Omaha in the month of June.

While at Fresno State, I decided that working 80 hours a week wasn't enough. So, I went back to school and earned my Master's degree in Kinesiology.

I once again took a step and followed my dream. I packed up my belongings and headed to the Midwest for the first time ever. I landed in Lawrence, Kansas with the most amazing job at KU. I can't wait to see what is in store for me here.

My favorite part of the job is telling stories that connect the community to a program, team or individual. I have also learned to maximize my outgoing personality and people skills to generate earned media and to capitalize on the success and accomplishments of different programs to gain publicity.

I love the fast pace industry of college athletics. I am passionate about what I do and look forward to work every morning. Someday I want to run my own college athletics communication department. I look forward to continuing to grow and learn from my experiences and I can't wait to see what opportunities come next.