Danielle Berry is one of many student-athletes managing her sport while being a nursing major. She didn't begin her collegiate career at UMSL, but has been a mainstay in the starting line-up since transferring from Eastern Illinois.
 
How long have you been playing basketball?
19 years so far 
 
What or who inspires you to play?
My dad and brother have pushed me a lot to improve my game. I've always found inspiration in Tamika Catchings who played in the WNBA until recently. 
 
Why did you transfer to UMSL or what influenced your decision to come here?
Transferring was a hard decision because I had established myself and made so many friends at Eastern. My decision came down to being closer to my mom who was going through chemo the summer I decided to transfer. 
 
Why do you want to be a nurse? What area of nursing are you studying or planning to go into?
After one of my closest friends in high school passed away from cancer I knew I wanted to be in the medical field. I studied premed for my first three years of college, but decided I didn't want to go to medical school. After my mom's brain surgeries I decided that nursing was what I really wanted to do. My end goal is to be a nurse practitioner, but to start I'm hoping to work as an RN in the operating room or Emergency Department. 
 
How hard is it managing basketball and nursing? How do you balance both?
Nursing is a hard major that has slightly increased in difficulty with switching to online. It's definitely manageable, but some days I'm more mentally drained then I realize. 
I honestly have a lot of friends in the nursing program that help me a ton with remembering deadlines. We study for all our exams together which has helped me learn so much better especially with it being online. Managing both of them is hard a lot of days to keep track of everything but I have great friends and professors that help me with everything. 
 
Pre-game rituals or superstitions?
I usually eat the same thing on game days. I drink an energy drink before the game and start drinking it 2 hours before the game. 
 
Hobbies outside of basketball and nursing?
I don't have a ton of time outside of those two things, but I do work at Barnes on the ortho floor and I really enjoy that.