Q&A: 4x1 with Natalie Scheifele

4x1 is an occasional series based on a question and answer interview featuring a member of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Track and Field team.
 
You once lived in Germany & have dual citizenship. Do you still keep in touch with any friends there and do you visit often? Can you speak German? What is your favorite memory of Germany?
 
"My dad is German so his whole family still lives there.  We usually go back every summer for a month to visit his family.  I grew up in Germany until I was about 10 years old, when my family moved to America midway through my 4th grade year of school.  My first language is actually German, so coming here I had to learn English.  I don't remember learning English being that hard but I remember it being so fun to meet new people.  Every summer that I was in Germany we would visit my mom's family in America, so now the roles are switched.  As far as staying connected with my friends from Germany, we lost touch throughout the years a little but with social media I still see updates from them every now and then."  
 
You've had a lot of relatives attend Texas A&M, what is your favorite Aggie tradition?
 
"My favorite Aggie tradition is between the Aggie ring and Muster.  Both traditions are rooted in the Aggie family and Aggie network's 'Once an Aggie, always an Aggie' former student mentality.  You graduate but you never really leave the family. With COVID-19 it is crazy how so many things have been cancelled or put off, but the true meaning of being an Aggie and that feeling of family hasn't been cancelled or put off.  I just think it's incredible that the university was able to keep Muster on the same day and not postpone or cancel it.  It looked different but it had such a greater message behind it.  Muster is all over the world.  My mom is a former Aggie and even in Germany she received notifications about Muster and actually attended Muster in Germany with other Aggies who were there."
 
What is something that you look forward to doing when everything is back to normal?
 
"I miss being with people.  The track team is such a family.  I'm in quarantine with my family, but the track team is my other family and I haven't been able to be with them.  I just want to get back and get into a routine again.  There were a lot of things I took for granted that were such simple parts of life that brought me so much joy.  Just being able to get back into it is what I really look forward to."
 
Do you prefer Hulu, Netflix, or Disney+?  What's your favorite streaming service and what shows do you like to binge? Have you seen Tiger King? If so, do you think Carole Baskin killed her husband?
 
"The funny thing is I actually have two of the three streaming services but they're not my accounts.  I've been hopping onto one of my teammate's accounts to watch everything.  I loved Netflix a few years ago but I feel like they're getting rid of all the good shows— like they took off Friends and are taking off The Office.  I saw Tiger King and that is actually something Netflix has done well.  It's so interesting.  I definitely believe Carole Baskin killed her husband but I think that Jeff and Alan set up Joe Exotic.  I feel like most TV shows are usually fluffed up a bit to be entertaining, but Joe Exotic is his own reality TV show."
 
You didn't start competing in javelin until your junior season, how did you get started in the event since it was late in your high school career?
 
"In high school, track had always been on the back burner for me— I never thought I would pursue it in college.  Collegiately, I had always thought I was going to play soccer or volleyball.  My junior year of high school, there was a javelin event where you could test it out so I tried it with one of my friends.  Both of us fell in love with javelin so we started practicing together.  We both got recruited having never really done the javelin and she ended up going to Princeton and I went to A&M to throw.  It's crazy, I feel like I've been given a gift with sports and God has used that gift in ways I never would've imagined.  I went to a summer camp at A&M between my junior and senior year of high school and I believe that's how I got into A&M for track.  That was the first time Chico (Coach De La Garza) saw me and then I got recruited."
 
Why do you love being a part of the Aggie track and field team? Can you share a favorite memory?
 
"My favorite part about being on the team for sure is the sense of family.  Everyone on the team isn't just a teammate, they're someone that I do life with on the daily.  We go to breakfast together, I have classes with a lot of them, we go to practice, then after practice we go to dinner, so my whole day is filled with the people I love.  It's been such a blessing.  Of course families aren't perfect and there are times where we rub each other the wrong way, but because we are a family we can get past those things and work together towards a common goal.