Alyssa Ruhf is a senior majoring in health science with a concentration in pre-health. Ruhf’s future goal is to get into physician assistant school, specializing in orthopedics. 

Ruhf started out as a gymnast at the age of eight, spending many dedicated hours training. After five years of doing gymnastics, she broke her back and was forced to stop. 

Going through the whole recovery process, being in a back brace and having multiple doctor visits for over a year, she didn’t let her love of doing flips escape her — which is when she found diving, and stuck to it. 

“Diving is like the same, and it’s similar to what I’ve been doing for such a long period of time,” she said. “It’s not as much pressure on my back.”

When it comes to diving, she appreciates the support she receives from her teammates and the bond that they all share with each other. 

“They are always there for me, cheering me on, and I am that for them, too,” Ruhf said.

Oakland’s future graduate has already accomplished getting sixth on three-meter dives and seventh on one-meter dives. 

“Being able to just place top eight on both boards — I think [that] is my biggest accomplishment,” she said. 

Ruhf is a hard-working student who keeps her academics in check. 

“My whole entire life, I’ve been an athlete,” Ruhf said. “I’m the type of person who needs a schedule and has this balance between everything in my life. I guess it’s just kind of like saying, ‘ok, well, I have to make sure that I’m up at this point of time for my classes. I need this done by this time,’ and so forth.”

In college, time management is key to success, and Ruhf has mastered that.

“I try not to think about my sport until I’m in my practice time,” she said. “Once I’m done with practice, I’m done for the day. I also try to balance my own personal time. When it comes to weekends, I try to get all of my work done so I can enjoy and have that time for myself.”

She has everything aligned for her future successes — an example of an incredible student-athlete. Her perseverance in becoming the great diver that she is from injuring her back to finding her calling to work in orthopedics makes for an inspiring success story. The future ahead of her is bright.

She will be taking the diving board again on Oct. 8 at noon at Oakland’s Aquatic Center against the University of Michigan.