Alumni Spotlight: Taekwondo artist serving as pediatric nurse
3/18/2021 12:00:00 AM | Taekwondo, Varsity Club
Drew Haack, who competed for the Flames' taekwondo team throughout his four-year Liberty University career, has experienced the highs and lows of life on the front lines as a pediatric nurse during a pandemic since graduating from the School of Nursing in December 2019.
"It has been an up-and-down ride, but I couldn't be happier, not just where I'm at, but the people I work with," said Haack, a Cedar Falls, Iowa, native who launched his career at Wake Forest Baptist Health in North Carolina before God directed his path to Minnesota. "Pediatrics is very hard because I've dealt with some very seriously sick patients (but) God has really blessed me here … being able to talk to people, to reassure them, to even pray with several people."
He has also blossomed as an author, publishing his first book, "Down to the Heart of It," in November 2019. It takes a faith-based approach to encouraging readers to love those around them, even in the midst of life and death situations, competing in collegiate athletics, and especially when working in a mission field.
"One of the coolest things is seeing something God started in your life and spreading it to others," Haack said. "I've not always been open to being personal, but wholly believe authenticity and encouragement is meant to be shared."
Competing on the taekwondo team was a great outlet for Haack, where he developed strong interpersonal relationships with teammates and was strengthened in his faith.
"Honestly, what sold me about Liberty, the first thing was the people," he said. "I noticed there was something different. Everybody kind of finds their friends and for me, that was on the taekwondo team my first year."
Traveling with his teammates to away competitions set the stage for some of the highlights of his career.
"Each time we went to a tournament, having a memory and the camaraderie (fueled the team)," Haack said. "Success is something we have constantly every year, whether that's a national champion in a weight class or in your belt division or as a team, we placed top-three in several different tournaments across the nation — from Texas to Colorado to California, and even at home at Liberty."
However, he said the relationships made on the road were much more valuable than the hardware he and his teammates brought back with them to campus.
"Winning a medal is amazing and awesome, but honestly, I don't have my medals here in Minnesota," Haack said. "What I do have is the friendships that I still keep in contact with. The majority of people I still talk to are those family from the taekwondo team, Coach (Tom Childress) and teammates. Even though they've long since graduated, we still have the inside jokes."
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| Haack (back right) poses with fellow nursing students before graduating in December 2019. |
He said the connections he formed with students at Liberty — and now in his chosen career field, with people he never would have otherwise met — have been life-changing, even in the midst of COVID-19.
"It's kind of been a weird blessing," Haack said. "People always say, ‘You can be a blessing to the people you reach out and witness to. The same is actually true for yourself when you witness. That's an encouragement to you because you get to see the impact you do have on your patients' lives and their families' lives."
He encouraged current and former Club Sports student-athletes to "just keep praying and focusing on what God is putting in front of you one day at a time."
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