Meet Elijah Lazor, an SIS Junior, majoring in Integrative Studies with a concentration in Leadership and Organizational Development. He is a middle blocker for the Men's Volleyball team.
How do you balance academics and athletics?
For me it is simple, my first two years of schooling at Saint Francis University was in Accounting and Finances, so I am very familiar with Excel. Logistics-wise, I track all of my syllabus guided assignments for all of my classes on an Excel spreadsheet, listing out each week and all of the assignments for that I have to do, during said week. After I turn in an assignment on Canvas, I go back to Excel and cross-out the assignment listing.
Mentally the toll of being a student-athlete can be very brain fog inducing or even irritating. There is always an assignment or project to be done which can be viewed as irritating or an opportunity to learn and grow as a person. To wake up everyday and know there is something to accomplish is what drives me to succeed. I have always been a student-athlete and if I need to step away from my school work I have plenty of hobbies that keep me busy outside of volleyball such as golf, cooking, gaming, and hiking.
What has been your favorite INTS class and/or professor so far, and why?
My favorite INTS class so far has been INTS 204 or Public Speaking and Critical Thinking with Mariah Wakefield. I love this class because of the patterned syllabus that fits well with my schedule and the speeches. We have a weekly meeting where the speech topic or style is introduced on Wednesday and then the following Wednesday everyone presents their speeches. I have a peer in this class that reviews my content after my speech and gives his opinions and I do the same for him. It gives me an idea of how I am doing besides the opinion of the professor and her guidelines for the assignment rubric. So far we have done introduction speeches where we told the class about ourselves, a cultural artifact speech where we shared an object that represented ourselves, and another speech in which we gave information on any topic of choice.
Who is your biggest inspiration in sports or life?
My biggest inspiration in life is my Dad. He was an athlete his entire life, played soccer and golf throughout all of high school, and he didn't play volleyball until his twenties. He showed me the sport of volleyball and hobby of golf, I am forever in debt to him for showing me these beautiful sports.
Not only am I able to compete in Men's volleyball at the highest stage in America at twenty years of age, but I will be able to play this sport into my late fifties. Just like golf, volleyball is a sport you can play your whole life with friends and family.
During my sophomore year of college, my Dad suffered strokes causing brain damage, and an aortic dissection which disabled him indefinitely and forcing him to re-learn how to eat and talk. Until this point he woke up every week day to work from 6am- 2pm to support me, my dreams and my family. He now wakes up every morning in a new life, unable to live unsupported and fights in physical and speech therapy. If my Dad can wake up everyday unable to do what makes him happy, every waking moment of my day is put towards following up on the opportunities he fought to give me his whole life. To make good on the work he put in for me and my family has become my latest life goal.
June 02, 2025