Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
(written by Hannah Bevis, Student Sports Information Assistant)

Jan. 18, 2016 - Danai Stylianou first started swimming half a world away on the island nation of Cyprus, with no idea that it would eventually lead her to North Central College's campus a decade later. What started as swimming for fun and to stay healthy turned into a passion for a sport that Stylianou had a natural gift for, even early on.

"At the age of 8 or 6, somewhere in there, the coach I had told me that you have to change teams, you have to go swim with the 11 [year-olds]," said Stylianou. "I actually was afraid of it, I didn't want to go, because I knew everything was going to get harder. But then I started doing that, and my parents were supporting me, and they were always next to me. I have that motivation from home."

That support from her parents were also what helped lead her to study in the United States. Stylianou said she'd always wanted to go outside of her home country for school, but it was her parents who said they wanted her to study in the U.S. A lot of students from Cyprus study in England, but Stylianou said her parents wanted her to go somewhere where she would be able to learn another language fluently.

It was during her search for schools that Stylianou found North Central. She liked that the College had a small average class size, and the more she learned about the school, the more intrigued she was.

"We talked to the international programs, and I got a scholarship," said Stylianou. "Last year, I was in the ELI (English Language Institute) program, so I studied the English language first and then I was doing North Central classes and the ELI classes."

North Central's Office of International Programs reaches out to students like Danai on a regular basis, helping them find scholarships and classes that fit their needs while providing them with opportunities to study abroad at a small, liberal arts college. The English Language Institute that Stylianou started in is relatively new, having been founded two years ago, but it its dedicated to growing and offering more students opportunities to better their English and complete their undergraduate education at North Central.

"Part of my position is to work with the assistant director of international admissions, and she is actively recruiting students from overseas," said Kate Pope, Director of the English Language Institute at North Central. "We have a fair amount of students who come here and are interested in participating in sports, which is great."
 
The staff at the Office of International Programs works closely together to make sure each student who comes to campus receives the help and services they need, including reaching out to coaches if students, like Danai, are interested in competing.

Stylianou is a sophomore now, in her second year at North Central. But this year has been much better than the one prior, she says, because finally the swimming and diving group has started to bond and act more like a team than previously.

"Last year, we were like people and we were swimming together, but it wasn't like a real team," said Stylianou. "And this year, we actually have this: a team, like you have a team that supports you, helps you every day, and we hang out a lot."

It's part of a culture change that's happening with the swim team as they work to be more competitive but also to remind everyone what it's like to be in the North Central athletic family. Stylianou and her team has practices twice a day, five days a week, a more rigorous schedule than was adopted in previous years. Their new practice regimen, combined with more team bonding, has already led to improvements across the board for the team, in more ways than one.

"Our times, from last year, they're better and people are getting stronger and faster, and we cheer for each other," said Stylianou. "It's great because when you swim, and your team is right above you and cheering for you, you really want to go faster and you really try, not just for you, but for your team, because they're there and they want you to be good."

She smiled. "It's really good."

Stylianou spends most of her time in the pool, but when she's not practicing, competing or hanging out with her friends, she's working towards getting her degree in exercise science. Once she graduates, she has lofty goals for what she wants to do for her career.

"Actually, I want to do a lot of stuff. I want to open my own gym, be a personal trainer. One day I want to have my own pool, and be a coach, a swimming coach. I do want to go here, but you never know what's going to happen in two years, three years," she said. "I'd love to work here,at North Central."

Whether she stays in Naperville or not after she graduates remains to be seen. For now, though, Stylianou is very happy with her new team, and she has high hopes for their future.

"I feel that next year we're going to be a very good team. The environment that we built this year, next year's going to be better," she said, smiling again. "…This is my second home."

For more information about internaional admissions, programs and scholarship opportunities, click HERE.