Skylar Mittelsteadt has discovered that sometimes the best treasures are right in your own backyard.
The Kingsport resident graduated from West Ridge High School. She applied and was accepted to an out-of-state university twice the size of ETSU. When she encountered a roadblock in the enrollment process there, she used the opportunity to rethink her college decision.
“I think I had brushed over ETSU because I am local to this area and it was right here in my backyard,” she said. “But after choosing ETSU, I see now that it is a gem and it has a lot of amazing opportunities. I love the size of ETSU. It’s big enough where you have so many resources, but also small enough that you don’t get lost in it.”
“At ETSU, everything feels possible.”
Skylar Mittelsteadt
Now a sophomore, Skylar has embraced leadership and service opportunities at ETSU. A longtime volunteer with youth soccer leagues in the area and an employee at YMCA Kingsport, she even found a way to couple her interest in soccer with her education at ETSU.
When she coached youth soccer in high school, Skylar remembers children coming to try-outs and practice without soccer cleats and weather-appropriate practice clothes. So, when she learned about the ETSU Elevates pitch competition, she started with what she knew and was passionate about.
Launched in 2019, the ETSU Elevates program offers students an opportunity to identify a pressing challenge facing the region and to partner with a community organization to conceptualize, design and implement a service-focused solution to their topic. The student then gets to pitch their idea in front of judges and a live audience to compete for funding to scale and implement their proposed projects in the region.
“I just thought about all of the cleats I had that I didn’t use any more and developed an idea I called ‘Level the Field’ that focuses on collecting gently used or new sports equipment to give to kids who need it,” Mittelsteadt said.
She partnered with YMCA Kingsport and pitched her idea at the 2024 ETSU Elevates competition. Not only did the audience choose her for the People’s Choice Award, she also earned first place from the judges.
Hear from Skylar about her "Level the Field" idea for ETSU Elevates.
In addition to ETSU Elevates, Skylar keeps busy as a member of the ETSU Mock Trial Team, the Pre-Law Society, a member of the Honors College and the Undergraduate Honors Research Program, and the Preview and Orientation Leader Organization.
After she graduates in 2027, Skylar hopes to go to law school and pursue family and juvenile law.
“At ETSU, everything feels possible.”
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