Brittany Jessen

Classroom

Brittany Jessen is in her last year of pursuing a bachelor’s degree in English education with a minor in reading. She has achieved a cumulative 3.89 GPA and is a member of the Dean’s List. She is currently student-teaching for the duration of her senior year at the nearby Beresford High School with 11th- and 12th-grade English. Following graduation, Jessen plans on earning a master’s degree in English and possibly working towards a Ph.D. She hopes to become a college professor of English at a teaching based University and have an opportunity to impact students by being a compassionate and hardworking professor. In 2015-2016 she was academic All-Summit League.

Character

Every aspect of Jessen’s character points back to her identity as a follower of Christ. Her faith has helped her overcome obstacles and act with integrity. She embraces the opportunities she has to be a leader and strives to help others strengthen their leadership qualities by challenging themselves and finding their passions. Jessen is a model student-athlete for the athletic department. She is and will become one of the greatest volleyball players to ever come through USD. Her athletic accomplishments are incomparable, but what she does off the court makes her who she is. She has been an avid member of SAAC since her freshman year and served as the president for the last two years. She is extremely driven in the classroom and has positioned herself well to have success in graduate school. Her motivation, selflessness and passion for making the people around her better make her a great leader and teammate.

Community

As the University of South Dakota SAAC President, Jessen is the leader of an organization that gives a voice to NCAA student-athletes regarding time spent participating in countable activities and overall student-athlete well-being. As president of SAAC, she is a leader of community service events such as food drives for the Vermillion food pantry, field day for young children in the community to spend time with USD athletes and additional events that have a major impact on the community. Jessen is also the USD SAAC Summit League representative, which means she has attended the conference league meetings in Chicago as well as three conference calls a year to discuss how to better the student-athlete experience. While in Chicago for the conference league meeting, she also participated in community service.

Jessen was a Summit League Representative at the NCAA Leaderships Forum in April 2016. She was one of two Summit League athletes to be chosen to represent the league at the 2016 NCAA Leadership Forum. In the community, she is the co-leader of Vermillion High School FCA (Fellowship of the Christian Athlete) where they meet once a week to grow in faith together and become strong followers of Christ. As an active participant in FCA, she attended a service trip to Kenya in May 2016 with fellow FCA members from around the Midwest to help villages in Kenya. In addition, Jessen is a co-leader of Hillside Community Church high school ministry in Vermillion, where they meet on Sundays and study God’s word.

Competition

Jessen recorded her 4,000th collegiate assist this season and is on pace to become the career assists leader in school history while having a chance to break the Summit League record. She has recorded four career triple-doubles and is a five-time Summit League player of the week. Her freshman year (2014) she was named to the All-Freshman Team, and from 2014-2016 Jessen has been named first-team All-Summit League. In 2015-2016 she was the Summit League Setter of the Year.