Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Photo by: Jeremy Fleming
Burris excelling in preseason after busy summer
8/26/2018 1:00:00 PM | Women's Golf
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee senior golfers Jenna Burris and Hanley Long wrapped up back-to-back Tennessee Women's Four-Ball tournament titles on Wednesday. While their score (20-under par) was impressive, it was maybe made more astounding considering one half of the team had a summer that was almost too busy for golf.
The championship, which was also the Blue Raider duo's third in four years at the event, came after a summer in which Burris was forced to focus on her future career off the course.
The Manchester, Tennessee native held a financial representative internship with Northwestern Mutual. In her role, she built a client base and helped them improve their financial situations with financial planning and other tools.
Basically, she built her own business.
"I really enjoyed it," Burris said. "I learned a lot about myself and what I should be doing. I think it'll pay off in the long run with what I want to do in my career."
The internship, which started with training at the end of May when the Blue Raider season was over, was exhausting, requiring long hours in an office.
When she wasn't working, Burris had to balance starting a master's program. She's pursuing a degree in organizational leadership.
Not to be forgotten, Burris had a redshirt senior year to get ready for on the golf course. She's already had an incredible career, ranking fourth all-time at MT with a 75.32 stroke average. She's also a three-time All-Conference USA Second Team member and won the 2017 Conference USA Championship individual and 2016 team titles.
She luckily worked for a company that understood the rigors of being a student-athlete.
"They knew going into my internship that I was still dedicated to golf," she said, "so they were able to work with me. I really appreciated that. It was definitely a lot of time management and time balance … I used just about every minute of every day."
With the season around the corner, Burris will scale back on the office hours she puts in with Northwestern Mutual, though she'll stay on contract mostly on a remote basis. She'll also take nine graduate school hours in the fall semester, all online.
On the course, she'll try to complete what's been a stellar career. She and her senior teammates, Long and graduate transfer Kailey Collier, have dubbed the season "Super Senior Year."
"I'm super excited about it," Burris said. "There's a lot of opportunity for us this year. We have eight girls that are going to be fighting for five spots every week. That makes it a lot more fun, because you know you're being pushed at every moment. That's what we've thrived on."
If anything, the summer made Burris realize how well she can balance a life both on and off the golf course.
Josh Vardaman is the staff writer for goblueraiders.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Vardaman and also follow @MTAthletics for more on the Blue Raiders.
The championship, which was also the Blue Raider duo's third in four years at the event, came after a summer in which Burris was forced to focus on her future career off the course.
The Manchester, Tennessee native held a financial representative internship with Northwestern Mutual. In her role, she built a client base and helped them improve their financial situations with financial planning and other tools.
Basically, she built her own business.
"I really enjoyed it," Burris said. "I learned a lot about myself and what I should be doing. I think it'll pay off in the long run with what I want to do in my career."
The internship, which started with training at the end of May when the Blue Raider season was over, was exhausting, requiring long hours in an office.
When she wasn't working, Burris had to balance starting a master's program. She's pursuing a degree in organizational leadership.
Not to be forgotten, Burris had a redshirt senior year to get ready for on the golf course. She's already had an incredible career, ranking fourth all-time at MT with a 75.32 stroke average. She's also a three-time All-Conference USA Second Team member and won the 2017 Conference USA Championship individual and 2016 team titles.
She luckily worked for a company that understood the rigors of being a student-athlete.
"They knew going into my internship that I was still dedicated to golf," she said, "so they were able to work with me. I really appreciated that. It was definitely a lot of time management and time balance … I used just about every minute of every day."
With the season around the corner, Burris will scale back on the office hours she puts in with Northwestern Mutual, though she'll stay on contract mostly on a remote basis. She'll also take nine graduate school hours in the fall semester, all online.
On the course, she'll try to complete what's been a stellar career. She and her senior teammates, Long and graduate transfer Kailey Collier, have dubbed the season "Super Senior Year."
"I'm super excited about it," Burris said. "There's a lot of opportunity for us this year. We have eight girls that are going to be fighting for five spots every week. That makes it a lot more fun, because you know you're being pushed at every moment. That's what we've thrived on."
If anything, the summer made Burris realize how well she can balance a life both on and off the golf course.
Josh Vardaman is the staff writer for goblueraiders.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Vardaman and also follow @MTAthletics for more on the Blue Raiders.
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