Senior Emily Lyons, who hails from Haverhill, Mass., has made quite a lot out of her four years at UR. Since her freshman year, she has played on the women’s basketball team and is also currently a member of the Varsity Student Athletic Advisory Committee.
Now a double major in math and economics, Lyons originally wanted to major in chemical engineering, but found that her true passion was for math. “I started off a chemical engineering major and not long after figured out that the only part I liked about it was the math,” Lyons said. “Economics just got added on to give me more options when I graduated.”
Emily has secured a job at Liberty Mutual Insurance in Boston as an actuary after she graduates, but her dream job is owning the Boston Red Sox.
Talk about your involvement with VSAAC.
The committee consists of one or two reps from each varsity team. We discuss things like how to get more people to go to games, community service projects for our teams to do, fundraising for the committee, any athletic concerns (like parking, dining halls open late enough for teams with late practices, missing classes for games, etc.) This is my third year on VSAAC. In the past, we’ve organized athletic balls, baked cookies for the Ronald McDonald House, sold shirts and a lot of other things along those lines.
What do you love about basketball?
I love playing basketball here at UR for two reasons. One, I love the people on my team. We’re very close knit, which I suppose we have to be, given the amount of time we spend together. Some of my best friends are members of the team. Two, we are a very competitive program. This year, we were ranked as high as second in the nation and ended up making it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament. In my four years here, we’ve made it to a Final Four and two Sweet 16s. Our conference is probably the best in Division III basketball since we had as many as five of the eight teams in the Top 25 this year.
You’ve worked for Liberty Mutual in the past. What kinds of work have you done for them previously?
I did a lot of work in their loss forecasting and reserving departments. Basically, I did a lot of analyzing the records of losses some of the companies Liberty insures had. I used that and past data to try and predict how much they would lose in future financial quarters. I’m still waiting to see what department I’ve been assigned to for my actual job, so I’m not exactly sure what I’ll be doing now.
What’s the last good movie or book you saw?
I recently saw “Babel,” which I think lived up to all the hype. I also just read “Dante’s Club,” which is a good read if you’re into mysteries.
What’s your favorite thing to do in Rochester?
Lately, it’s been going to Nathanial’s or the Distillery with a bunch of friends and just hanging out.
Kraus is a member of the class of 2009.
