Cougar Scholars is a monthly series highlighting Chicago State student-athletes through the lens of their studies and professional pursuits. This month features women's track & field junior Faith Rotich. Read more from our previous scholar-athletes here:
- April 2022: Pedro Alvarez, Men's Tennis
- March 2022: Koranis Boonmadee, Women's Golf
- February 2022:Â Favour Chukwukelu, Men's Basketball
- January 2022:Â Aaliyah Collins, Women's Basketball
- December 2021:Â Justin Johnson, Men's Track & Field, Cross Country
- November 2021:Â Barbara Castellanos, Women's Soccer
- October 2021:Â Andrea Calderon, Volleyball
- September 2021:Â Shaquan Reid, Men's Soccer
- August 2021:Â Susie Andres, Women's Tennis
- July 2021:Â Kevin Bullington, Men's Golf
- June 2021:Â Dominick George, Men's Soccer
- May 2021:Â Carmen Acedo, Women's Soccer
- April 2021:Â Josh Stig, Men's Golf
- March 2021:Â Leilani Moncrease, Women's Basketball
Once, when Faith Rotich was a young girl in Kericho, Kenya, her dad suffered a nasty cut on his finger.
Just a child at the time, Rotich sprung into action.
"I washed his cut," Rotich said. "But I didn't want him to feel any pain. So I was really, really soft on the wound."
Those actions speak to one of Rotich's indelible lifelong traits.
"I don't like seeing people in pain," Rotich said. "I have always had a desire to care for people."
Now, living a world away from Kenya in Chicago, Rotich is a nursing major at Chicago State, where she's also a junior on the track & field team. And as she studies for her final exams this week, she's working towards making a career out of her caring instinct.
"Growing up, I used to be asked all the time, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?'" Rotich said. "My answer was always doctor. I have manifested it."
The stakes have since risen from treating her dad's cut as a child to studying for professional degree. Rotich has risen too, as she's thrived in the classroom as CSU's May Cougar Scholar.
"In class, you have to know what's going on, since you have lives entrusted to you at the end of this," Rotich said. "It's quite a challenge, but I love the science and knowing how things work."
Rotich has her sights set on starting off as an ICU nurse but is enamored with a possible career in psychotherapy down the line.
"I love helping people process," Rotich said. "I love when people talk about their feelings. I'm a very good listener, so I can help people process trauma. It's interesting to me how the things we go through shape our behavior."
As Rotich studies, she also runs. She hails from the Kalenjin tribe in Kenya, a group that has historically owned long-distance running, winning nearly 40% of international competitions since 1980.
But until high school, Rotich wasn't a competitive runner. In fact, she wasn't even "into sports."
"The primary school I went to was more focused on academics," Rotich said. "We viewed sports as a waste of time. We thought it was sports or academics, and that you would have to pick one. So all through primary school, I didn't do any formal sports."
Then, at the Alliance Girls High School in Kenya, Rotich was selected for her first interscholastic running competition — solely based on being a Kalenjin.
"I didn't win it," Rotich said. "But I did pretty well. I surprised myself. I felt happy with the position I got and was like, 'maybe this can be my thing.'"
After high school, she immersed herself fully and blossomed into a Division I-caliber athlete. Then, once she learned that she could study and run at an American university, she was sold.
Rotich reached out to Chicago State, where she's now carving out her goals.
"I've been able to meet a lot of amazing people at Chicago State," she said. "I've had the college experience as a student-athlete and am in a diverse community. I'm exposed to different people.
"I've proven to myself that I can do whatever I want to do. I can be an athlete and a good student. I can have both experiences."Â
