Joseph Ortiz, Exercise Science, Class of 2022

Joseph OrtizJoseph Ortiz ’22 was feeling stagnant in his career when he received a call out of the blue from Athletics Director Eric McNelley. McNelley had coached Ortiz in high school when both were living in Miami and he sometimes checked in on Ortiz to see how his life was going. “Eric is like an angel to me,” Ortiz says when remembering that call. “I was praying about what I should do when Eric called me.” At first, the proposal to consider applying as an undergraduate student at Eastern was a bit intimidating for Ortiz, but he summoned the courage to apply. Not long afterward, he got the official offer to join Eastern as a student and as a part of the basketball team. “I was in a place where I wasn’t able to just pick up and go,” he explains. “It was scary to pack up my car and head back to college. It was a leap of faith for sure, but there was such an outpouring of support from family, friends, and people I didn’t even know, that everything felt right.”

Ortiz hasn’t looked back. Through generous support from his family, he was able to quit working when he matriculated at Eastern so he could focus on basketball and maintain a high GPA. “I was out of school for 15 years,” he says, “so coming back to school was a huge challenge. But I’m learning to do my best to provide an example for other students.” When asked how he manages it all, without hesitation, he gives credit to the strong and supportive community he’s found at Eastern University. “Everyone I’ve met is there to support me and help me out in every shape or form. It’s very welcoming and comforting to know that I have a community around me to support me and lift me up.”

“It’s a place where you’re welcome and where you’re going to grow as a person. And, if you allow yourself to, it’s a place that can transform.”

The Eastern University community is not something that Ortiz is planning on leaving any time soon. He’s already beginning to drum up a plan to stay at Eastern to earn his master’s degree or find an opportunity to stay on as staff, perhaps in Physical Therapy or for the Athletics Department. “Here at Eastern, you grow in so many different areas,” says Ortiz. “It’s a place where you’re welcome and where you’re going to grow as a person. And, if you allow yourself to, it’s a place that can transform.”