Throughout the fall semester, daemenwildcats.com will feature profiles on the "residents of #DCWildcatNation" to introduce you to the coaches, administrators and athletic trainers at Daemen College. These dedicated professionals work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure Daemen's place as Western New York's Premier Division II Team. Today's featured staff member is Michelle Copolo-Ziemer, assistant athletic trainer. 

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QUICK BIO
Michelle Copolo-Ziemer is in her fifth season as an assistant athletic trainer at Daemen College. Copolo-Ziemer provides essential healthcare to Daemen student-athletes, working primarily with the women's volleyball and men's and women's track and field teams. 

Copolo-Ziemer's arrival at Daemen in the summer of 2016 came after she spent two years in the athletic training department for St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y.  While there, she worked primarily with the Saints' NCAA Division I women's ice hockey program, and their Division III women's field hockey and softball programs. Prior to her stint at St. Lawrence, Copolo-Ziemer spent the 2013-14 academic year on the athletic training staff at the State University of New York at Canton.
 
A native of West Virginia, Copolo-Ziemer completed both her Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training and Master's of Science in Exercise Physiology: Cardiac Rehabilitation at Marshall University. While at Marshall, she served as a graduate assistant athletic trainer for the men's soccer, football, women's volleyball and track and field programs.

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QUESTION & ANSWER
Q: Where did you grow up? Did you stay in one place or move around a lot?
A: I was born and raised in "Almost Heaven" Bluefield, West Virginia, with a holiday home in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where we spent Christmases and summers. My parents met there and live there full time now.
 

Q: What is your fondest childhood memory?
A: Convincing my dad to let me adopt a cat, and riding in our '65 Mustang Convertible out to the shelter to get her! Or, playing outside and catching lightning bugs with my neighbors.
 

 























Q: Who was your childhood idol and why?
A: My childhood idol was my neighbor Emily, who is basically my big sister. I remember her being super smart in science and she was cool. She always let me hang out even though I was four years younger. I looked up to her as a little girl and now I respect and admire her as an adult, because she is a pediatric ICU nurse in Texas.

Q: What do you like to do in your free time? What are your hobbies and interests?
A: I'm a runner, a cycling coach, an ambitious amateur chef, a cat and dog mom and a voracious reader. I love hiking, camping, and I'm a huge fan of exploring Buffalo and finding excellent dog-friendly patios and hanging out with my family and friends. I also love travel, and before COVID hit, I liked to spend summers bouncing around visiting family and friends down south.
 

Q: Where did you meet your husband? Do you have any children?
A: I met my husband on the sidelines of a Marshall University football practice. We were both in grad school at MU and worked with the team as athletic trainers. We actually had a lot of the same classes as well, I just didn't realize it at the time!
 

 




























Q: What is your favorite season and why?
A: Fall and Summer on repeat! I love the heat, humidity and long days of summer. I'm a Southern girl here! I also love the crisp air and changing leaves of fall, and the holidays that come along with it, like Halloween and Thanksgiving. But, if I'm being sassy, my real favorite season is hockey season! Go St. Lawrence Women's Ice Hockey!

Q: What was your first job growing up?
A: My first job growing up was at a bookstore. I am a big time book nerd and I loved having early access to all the new things coming out, especially Harry Potter, which was the hot item at that time and is still one of my all time favorite series.

Q: When did you know you wanted to go into a career in collegiate athletics?
A: In Bluefield, West Virginia, high school football is a big deal; huge deal, actually. So, I was always really intrigued with the people who responded to the injuries on the field at games and practices. I knew I wanted to go into a medical field, and when I realized at Marshall there was a whole career based on sports and medicine, I was hooked. My first time on that Herd sideline, I knew that college athletics was my niche.
 

 
 

















Q: Who are the people you consider to be your greatest mentors?
A: My mom and dad are my guiding lights in terms of work ethic, attitude and heart. Their mentorship is the framework of all my growth. Jeff Sage is my boss, but also someone who, in my five years of working here, has shaped and refined me as a clinician and has added so much knowledge and value to my life. Also, Stephanie Albano has been such an amazing mentor to me. Even though we are colleagues, she epitomizes to me what it is to be a strong woman, compassionate leader and great friend.
 

Q: What is the best advice you ever received and who did it come from?
A: The best advice I ever received was from my dad, who simply said, "Remember who you are. You got this, it's preordained." It's pretty universally applicable in my opinion.

Q: If you didn't work in collegiate athletics, what job do you think you'd have?
A: If I stayed in medicine but not collegiate athletics, I would be a physician assistant in neurosurgery. If I didn't work in collegiate athletics or sports medicine, I would be a chef who responded to global humanitarian crises by cooking food with World Central Kitchen.

Q: Besides Daemen, what are the teams or who are the athletes you root for most?
A: So many teams! I'm a Green Bay Packers shareholder. My old team, St. Lawrence Women's Ice Hockey. My husband's team, Canisius College Ice Hockey. Marshall University Football, go Herd! Also, the local favorites Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bills, except when they play the Packers of course, and the Boston Red Sox! Finally, my favorite athlete is Stephanie Bruce, a professional runner. She shouted out Daemen in an instagram chat I had with her and it was awesome!

Q: Where did you go on your most memorable vacation? What made it memorable?
A: My most memorable recent vacation was probably my honeymoon to Disney. It was totally magical! My favorite part was my husband's face in all the ride photos when I dragged him on roller coasters, which he hates. It was epic and laugh-out-loud funny. 
 

Q: What is one place you haven't visited, but definitely plan to someday?
A: Morocco! I am so obsessed with the food and the culture. Everything about Morocco is amazing!

Q: If you could have dinner with any three people, living or deceased, who would they be and why?
A: This is so hard! First, Anthony Bourdain. But I would want that dinner to be after a long trip somewhere amazing, and to last for as long as possible. Second, my Mommaw Mahood, so she could teach me how she made her dumplings and tell me about my mom's side of the family. Third, my Grandpa Frank, so he could teach me how he made his gnocchi!

 Q: What is your biggest fear?
A: My biggest fear is playing small and not shooting for the big, scary dreams, and waking up one day and realizing that I took the path of least resistance instead of leaning into the grit of trying.

Q: If you were singing karaoke, what would be your go-to song?
A: My go-to karaoke song would either be C.R.E.A.M by Wu-Tang Clan or Fancy by Reba McEntire.

Q: Is there anything you would like to do or accomplish in your life that you haven't done yet?
A: I have not qualified for the Boston Marathon yet, and it is on my list. I also haven't had a chance to run the New York City Marathon yet. COVID stole my race this year! I was planning to run as a fundraiser for the Brave Like Gabe Foundation. 

Q: If you were ever on Jeopardy, what is the interesting fact or experience about yourself that you'd choose to discuss with Alex Trebek?
A: I would say that my fun fact is that I adopted a senior dog last year, and that I foster cats. Also, I've run in every Buffalo Marathon for the past nine years, and plan to keep that streak alive until I'm like 103 years old!
 

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Daemen College features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.