By Shawn Fury
Seton Hall senior cross-country runner Cristina Fernandez knows all about the challenges that make her sport so difficult: hilly and rugged terrain, unpredictable weather that runs hot and cold, muddy ground, the wear and tear that causes injuries.
Fernandez has a phrase for how competitors contend with all these factors. “It’s about embracing the discomfort,” she explains. “And as a team we do that together, and that just makes us stronger when we’re on the starting line.”
“Embracing the discomfort.” That philosophy describes Fernandez’s approach to more than running. Because of her willingness to seek out global experiences, to experience new situations and cultures, she has singled herself out for success and was honored with one of five Student Servant Leader Awards this spring.
Fernandez, a Parsippany native, originally focused on soccer and basketball, even though she always enjoyed running. It wasn’t until her final years of high school that she took up cross country and “fell in love with the challenge of it.” She proved a quick learner, excelling in high school and then at Seton Hall. She capped her first three seasons on the University team helping the Pirates win at the 2019 ECAC/IC4A Championships, with a time of 20:07, fourth-best overall.
Though the ultimate outcome of fall sports this year is unclear due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Fernandez is certain about her post-college career. She’ll help others, just as she’s always done. Active in her local church, Fernandez volunteered at food pantries and also traveled on trips to places like West Virginia where her group repaired homes. “I always loved community service.”
This kind of passion for service contributed to Fernandez being honored as a Seton Hall Student Servant Leader. When Roberto Sasso, associate athletics director for student-athlete development and leadership, saw the award criteria, he knew she would be a good candidate. “She’s exceptionally friendly … and loves to get involved.”
A biology major with dreams of a career as a doctor, Fernandez is president of the Seton Hall chapter of MEDLIFE, a nonprofit group that works to improve access to medicine and education in Latin America and Africa, and she has played a key role in increasing membership on campus. On MEDLIFE service trips to Ecuador and Peru, she helped on the front lines as physicians provided medical care to impoverished communities. Fernandez took on a number of roles on these trips, from taking down general patient information and vitals to shadowing doctors, working with pharmacists, preparing Pap smears, teaching kids the right way to brush their teeth and educating families on general hygiene and health.
Working in places where people sometimes didn’t even have access to supplies as simple and necessary as ibuprofen for an injured ankle took her out of her comfort zone. “I was really distraught to witness the kind of poverty that these people had to live in,” she says, “but I was inspired by the power that medicine had to improve their lives. I just remember my heart feeling full, knowing how much medicine impacts people’s lives.”
Sasso marvels at how Fernandez manages her own life. Even being named a Student Servant Leader captures “just a fraction of the person she is,” he says, wondering how she finds the time. “All she does on campus … growing MEDLIFE … traveling to South America … it’s no easy task.”
A typical day for Fernandez? Waking up 6 a.m., for practice at 7 a.m.; weight-lifting; classes; studying; afternoon practice; maybe more classes; maybe a MEDLIFE meeting. “It’s a busy day but I’m surrounded by people who are as passionate as I am, about running and pursuing a career in medicine, about helping the community,” she says. “It’s exhausting but I love what I do, and I wouldn’t change it.” Especially when she’s helping change the world.
Shawn Fury is an author in New York City.
