Love blossomed amid love of sports for Kraemers at Ripon College

Josh Kraemer ’09 and Katie Krueger Kraemer ’09 lived, learned and fell in love together at Ripon College. For both, the promise of continuing their love of sports at Ripon as well as the strong sense of community made committing to the College an easy choice.

Katie Kraemer, who grew up in Wrightstown, Wisconsin, loved the smaller campus and class sizes of Ripon College when she toured it, and she was thrilled to fulfill her dream of playing collegiate soccer. Josh Kraemer knew he wanted to attend a small school where he could receive more personal attention during his studies, but it was a special connection with Head Coach of Football Ron Ernst that sealed the deal for him.

“I visited several other schools, but none made me feel as special as he did during the recruiting process,” he says.

At Ripon, Katie Kraemer majored in biology and minored in health, while Josh majored in exercise science and minored in health. During the spring semester of their senior year, both took the personal training certification course and interned at Anytime Fitness. Katie Kraemer works as the club director at Anytime Fitness in Hartford, Wisconsin, and Josh Kraemer is the regional personal training director for four franchisee locations in Washington and Ozaukee counties.

“As an exercise science major with an emphasis on athletic training, I use my degree on a daily basis,” Josh Kraemer says. “It is no doubt that the level of education I received from all of my professors at Ripon has had a profound impact on my career.”

Katie Kraemer believes the knowledge she gained in her coursework helped her out early on in her career as a personal trainer, and still does in her current role as club director. “What was learned outside has just as much meaning: learning proper time management, leadership skills, self-discipline, hard work, problem-solving skills and organizational and communication skills,” she says.

Both Kraemers find the relationships made with students and faculty at Ripon the most rewarding aspect of their education. Katie Kraemer does not hesitate to reach out to past professors and mentors for guidance and advice throughout life, and some of Josh Kraemer’s best friends to date are his Phi Delta Theta fraternity brothers.

“You don’t realize it when you are there, but life is just different at Ripon — in a very good way,” Josh Kraemer says.

“When I … meet someone who graduated from a different school, it becomes very apparent that their experience wasn’t as personal as my time at Ripon. … When you go (here), you create many lifelong relationships because of the close-knit nature of the school.”

Alongside professional relationships, the two cherish finding each other at Ripon. “We developed a strong friendship for the first 2½ years of our college career, started dating our junior year, and haven’t looked back,” Katie Kraemer says. “We’re now getting ready to welcome our first child in February and are loving life in Cedarburg with our pup, Rugger.”

Dakota Marlega ’21
Waupaca, Wisconsin

Posted January 21, 2019 in Alumni.

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