Contact: Matthew Eaker, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, mreaker@noctrl.edu
Feb. 25, 2022 - During her senior year of high school, senior women's basketball player IxChel Leeuwenburgh didn't choose a college the stereotypical way but after finding a letter at the bottom of a pile and coming on a visit she decided that North Central would be her home for the next four years.
"I came out to a tournament at the United Center in Chicago and one day I was going through letters and one said North Central. It was kind of a chance that I found that letter, it was crumbled up, had coffee stains on it and it was at the bottom of the pile. I came for the visit, I really like the school and Naperville" said Leeuwenburgh.
During Leeuwenburgh's time here at North Central, she has played in 68 career games while starting 29 games as a Cardinal while tallying 308 career points and 43 assists. Leeuwenburgh has had many memories from the last four year including going to California with the team her sophomore year and beating Millikin University 70-69 in overtime on Feb. 9.
IxChel's basketball career started when she moved to Colorado from the Netherlands, her older brother started playing basketball and ended up playing in college and she fell in love with the sport after that.
Leeuwenburgh was involved with many sports during her childhood, she played soccer, swimming, volleyball, track and field and competitive dance as well as playing basketball. “I was all over the place, I grew up in a small town so if you were an athlete you were basically an athlete for every sport" said Leeuwenburgh.
Leeuwenburgh's family is something that is very important to her. Since she is from the Netherlands, her family is separated but that makes them even closer. "My family raised me to be independent and people oriented, it made sense that all of us gravitate towards athletics" said Leeuwenburgh. "They have always supported me and told me I can do whatever I want to do and doing whatever you set your mind to.”
When IxChel isn't on the court, she enjoys painting, drawing and cooking. She got her inspiration from her father who is an artist, she grew up doing art work with him and just loved being around it. "love painting and drawing but painting is what I do most. Going along with that, I love to cook, I've been cooking for a long time. It is a way for me to be artistic as well" said Leeuwenburgh.
Leeuwenburgh took her first neuroscience class and instantly loved it. She knew that this was something she would want to study since she thought the brain was really interesting. While taking neuroscience classes, she found philosophy and realized that they have more in common than she would've thought. Instead of picking one or the other, Leeuwenburgh decided she was going to double major in Neuroscience and Philosophy.
"I love being a part of a department that is still learning about stuff on a day to day basis, it makes things easier for myself, I couldn't decide on either of them so I chose to do both. Both majors are the two sides of who I am" said Leeuwenburgh.
IxChel plans to graduate in May and take a year off to take everything that she has learned and put it together in her field. "I want to be a professor, I think thats the end goal. Being at a University is really cool, I can keep learning, I can keep being around athletics, and meeting people. I think I would end up somewhere in a neuroscience department" said Leeuwenburgh
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Credits:
Steve Woltmann