Name: Nadja Tiktinsky
Hometown: Southport, Conn.
Major: Creative Writing
Team: Equestrian
Organizations: Children's Program Coordinator at Arts Mission Oak Cliff
 
When did you start riding?
I started riding when I was 5.
 
Did anyone in your family ride? 
My little sister, Katrina, also rides. When I was younger, I was annoyed with her for always copying what I did, but now we're really close and I couldn't imagine not having her at the barn with me. Now that I don't compete outside of the team anymore, I still take any chance I get to go to shows with her and be her horse show mom. I would say that she's following in my footsteps, but at this point she's far surpassed anything I did in my junior career, and I'm incredibly proud of her for that.
 
What is your favorite childhood memory? 
When I was nine and got my first pony, Flame. To say I was obsessed is an understatement.
 
What has been your biggest accomplishment within your riding career?
When I finished 2012 ranked 4^th nationally in my division, and the ribbons I won at Devon and Harrisburg over the years.
 
When did you decide you wanted to ride in college?
The barn that I grew up riding at in Connecticut, the Fairfield County Hunt Club, has always been the most "home" part of home for me. I was planning to go far away for school, and thought that joining a team and being able to continue spending time with horses and other horse girls would help college feel more like home.
 
How did you decide on SMU?
I'm really stubborn, and when I was 15 I decided that SMU was the only school I wanted to go to. I honestly don't even remember why, but once I made up my mind, that was it. Everyone else was pretty skeptical. My parents came with me to visit a total of four times before they let me commit, and they also made me to apply to a ton of other schools just in case I changed my mind. One of my trainers, Cassie, once pretty much kidnapped me, took me on a tour of her alma mater, and set up a surprise meeting with her old equestrian teams' coach. Another one of my trainers, Jenny, had me go to lunch with the head of the IHSA because there are way more IHSA than NCEA schools near my home state. It definitely was a bit of a struggle to get everyone on board, but in the end my stubbornness won out and they all came around.
 
What would you say your role on the team has been? 
I try to be a good teammate by being supportive of the other girls and always putting in the work to accomplish whatever needs to be done around the barn. The team has also grown much closer since my freshman year, and I like to think that the other seniors and I helped to bring together the English and Western sides, which used to feel so divided.
 
Who is your favorite SMU horse?
Our horse Pico is really special to me. He's not the fanciest horse by any means (though you'd have a hard time convincing him of that) but he has a huge heart and always tries so hard for us.
 
What is your favorite experience from being on the team?
Being on the team in general has been amazing. Outside of college, riding is an individual sport, and so it was really fun to be a part of a team for the first time.
 
What was your biggest accomplishment at SMU?
I would say that my academics have been my biggest accomplishment. I'm in the Hilltop New Century Scholars honors program, and will be graduating with departmental distinction in English and a 3.56 GPA. I also won SMU's Frances Mossiker Fiction Prize as a sophomore, and the work I've put into my creative writing classes helped me to get one of my pieces published for the first time earlier this year.
 
What is your biggest take away from your SMU experience as you move into the next stage of your life?
You can make a home for yourself anywhere, as long as you're with good people – and you can always find good people.
 
What advice would you give to incoming athletes about the team and college experience?
Never, ever pull an all-nighter before 6AM workouts. You will feel like literal death.
 
What do you plan on doing when you graduate? 
It's not quite a plan yet, because I won't hear back until mid-March, but I'm hoping to go to grad school to pursue two master's degrees: an MFA in writing for children, and an MA in analytical children's literature.
 
What will you miss the most about SMU?
The people. I've made such amazing friends here and it's going to be tough when we end up scattered all over the country and aren't able to see each other.