Oxley is majoring in Electrical Engineering
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Being a scholar-athlete at Florida Tech takes an incredible amount of hard work and dedication to excel both in the classroom and on the field. Panther women’s soccer player Savannah Oxley, a junior who is majoring in Environmental Business, joins us for a new edition of Scholar-Athlete Spotlight.
The hometown product from Melbourne came to Tech after playing for Viera High School and scored the first goal of her college career on September 2nd during Tech’s 3-0 win at Union. During last week’s showdown at #5 ranked Embry-Riddle, it was Oxley’s second-half strike that earned the Panthers a draw.
The midfielder has been named to the Sunshine State Conference Commissioner’s and Florida Tech Athletic Director’s Honor Roll following each of her first two seasons with the team.
With the Panthers hitting the road tonight to face Tampa, Savannah sat down with us to tell us everything that goes into being a successful student and being part of a successful team.
Tell us a little bit about your major here at Florida Tech, what made you choose it?
So, I’m an environmental business student and originally, I was in ocean engineering, but I was really interested in the business side of everything. But I still really love the environment and want to work more with that. So, I talked to my advisor and we found this major that worked for me.
What do you want to do with that major once you’ve graduated?
So, I can do two things, I can either go into the environmental side and use that or I can go into the business side. Hopefully, I can use my degree to work for a company that focuses on the environment but then work on the business side of that company.
Having grown up in Melbourne, what was about Florida Tech that made you want to stay home?
Well, I practiced with the team and I just loved the girls and I loved the coach. I wasn’t really sure about the campus because I even though I’m local, I hadn’t been here before. But once I toured it, I liked how it was all in one place. I had a really good feeling about everything and just decided to come.
What’s something from your classes that you didn’t know about your major before?
I took a global business class my freshman year, and I learned a lot about the different aspects of business on a global scale and that’s something that I had no idea about until it came to Florida Tech.
Is there a teammate or fellow athlete who you’ve become study buddies with?
Yeah, so I would say I have two people like that for me, Kajsa [Ekstrom] and Halla [Helgadottir]. We’re all in business and we have mostly the same classes, and we also enjoy doing the same things outside of soccer and school. So, we mostly get together and study and do all of our work together.
What are some things you need to get the most out of your study time? Do you have a playlist or need to be by yourself in a room?
I have a certain playlist that I actually put all my friends on, it’s a Spotify playlist with instrumental music that this guy creates and it’s kind of like LoFi beats. But we listen to that almost every time, then go and find a place, maybe light a candle, and just listen to music and study.
How has being a collegiate athlete prepared you for what you’re doing now and what do you take from the pitch that you apply to your studies?
I definitely think that being a college athlete has taught me to be persistent, stay patient, and stay consistent, and by putting in the work every day, I feel like that will eventually lead to a career at some point.
What advice would you give to an athlete coming to Florida Tech who has an interest in Environmental Business?
I would tell them to look into the courses and decide if it’s something that they’re really passionate about and if it’s something that they want to go into.
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