Temple TUFF: Men's Cross Country Alum Owen Glatts

It is a constant emphasis in college athletics that the word student comes first in the commonly used phrase student-athlete. The overwhelming majority of student-athletes will go pro in something other than sports. With this fact in mind it becomes important for student-athletes to make the most out of their education to be prepared to succeed in the workforce.

Some majors are certainly more demanding that others, however, when it comes to hours spent learning it may be hard to compete with a Nursing Major.

Owen Glatts, a former Temple Cross Country runner and member of the Temple Class of 2016 had to find a way to balance the rigor of being an athlete and nursing student. This schedule prepared Glatts for demands of a career in health care. "The time management is the top thing I took from my time at Temple", Glatts said, "the majority of time was jam packed with classes and practice."

Nursing students can have up to eight hours of classes on given days, and their days outside of the classroom are spent learning at a hospital or in the community with hands-on work.

For Glatts, the decision to become a nurse was not something that he had decided as a kid. It was once he arrived at Temple, he decided to enter the family line of work. Glatt's mother has been a nurse for over 30 years and is currently working at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. In addition his brother, James Glatts is a nurse at Presbyterian Hospital in West Philadelphia.

Glatts spoke about his good fortune in having a coach that allowed him to take on both nursing and running. Coach Snyder joined the Owls after Glatts and jumped right in. "While he was coming in, I was a huge pain and he had to work around my schedule but he always gave me flexibility" said Glatts.

"Owen was always on the go and had a schedule that was incredibly challenging time-wise" said Snyder, "It wasn't easy balancing his clinical commitments, academic coursework and running, but he consistently brought a smile to our faces at practice with an infectious sense of humor that could lighten any mood."

He added that "Snyder frequently joked about not wanting to ever coach a nursing major again", however with the addition of Sean Egan in 2018, the list of Temple Cross Country nursing students grew.

Following his graduation, Glatts accepted a role at Hahnemann Hospital in their Emergency Department. At Hahnemann's ER, "you can get anything that comes in and there are a lot of different hats you have to wear" added Glatts. He pointed to the ER as an excellent way to learn quickly.

Following his third year at Hahnemann, Glatts decided to switch to traveling nursing. He first completed a period in Wheeling, West Virginia at Wheeling Hospital.

Glatts has just begun a new role at Wheatland Memorial Hospital in Wheatland, Montana.

"My favorite thing is the autonomy associated with being a nurse, of course you follow policies but over the course of the day, you work with doctors and get to run your show. As long as you are getting things done, you get work at your own pace" added Glatts.

In his new role, Glatts expects to have to adapt to stringent hospital policies relating to the COVID-19 breakout. Medical professionals have to be prepared to be on the front lines of battling this illness.

Temple University Athletics

Temple TUFF: Men's Cross Country Alum Owen Glatts

Players Mentioned

Sean Egan

Owen Glatts

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