By: Ellen Bossert, Columbia Women’s Basketball Legend
 
Why did you choose to attend an Ivy League institution?
 
My grandfather, father and uncle are all Columbia alums, and this family legacy impressed upon me from a young age that the exceptional quality of an Ivy League degree would engender significant opportunities throughout my lifetime. Lion pride runs deep!  
 
What comes to mind when you think about the Ivy League?
 
The Ivy League has long been the gold standard by which other schools are measured. Tradition and character are venerated, but the success goes way beyond anything one dimensional. What I love is that there is a deep and abiding excellence present in every aspect of the college experience: academics, athletics, social, outside interests and alumni support.  
 
How do you feel your Ivy League experience helped prepare you for your career?
 
My Ivy League experience instilled in me a broad range of intellectual skills—analytical, logical rational and contemplative thinking—that helped me develop a comprehensive style of thinking that remains effective in navigating myriad business challenges in my professional life. This goes beyond specific skills or training, to a higher-level, integrated approach. This elite cognitive training of academic learning combined with top work habits and an unyielding commitment to the highest quality standards has served me well in my professional career.
 
What off-court accomplishment are you most proud of?
 
I am most proud of crafting a path that strikes a great balance between being both a mother and a C-level business executive. I have followed a career arc that allows me to be a builder—shepherding both babies and start-ups through growing pains and into flourishing. My specialty is building disruptive technology companies that bring industry-changing innovation into mainstream use and application, but no business success is more important to me that raising two beautiful teen-aged daughters, Brooke and Kate, with my life partner, Suzanne.
 
What is your most memorable experience from your time as an Ivy League student-athlete?
 
The bond with my teammates and coaches that resulted in believing in ourselves and turning the tide of the program towards a winning trajectory. If our basketball team was a small business, I might sum it up as saying that we were able to build momentum and embody the idea of reinvention to achieve an inflection point that drove an alternative outcome where the “past was no longer prologue.” Sometimes it just takes a small group of the right people at the right time to do great things.
 
I am reminded of a moment in 2004 when the Boston Red Sox were finally poised to capture the World Series for the first time in 86 years but were still hamstrung from such a long stretch of failure. In the midst of the team’s run, pitcher Curt Shilling used three simple words to rally the Sox and alter the course of history: “Why not us?” and that is what we believed as well. Why can’t we be the ones to grab a W after 40 minutes of play? Together, we were able to foster a mindset of fierce determination, competitiveness, trust in each other and a sense of a higher purpose that has provided a north star for me to this day.  
 
How did your Ivy League experience compare to your expectations?
 
While I had acquired a lot of background about Columbia from my family, I didn’t know what to expect until I entered those hallowed halls. Like many people, I was intimidated by the reputation of academic difficulty. And that certainly proved true, but I was also surprised by the many ways faculty and staff helped support and draw out the best in my classmates and me. It was rugged, but glorious. Overall, I would say that my experience exceeded even my sky-high expectations across both my athletic and academic experience.
 
What is it like when you meet another former Ivy League student-athlete?
 
The beauty of Ivy League athletes is that they love their sports more than anything in the world but have a number of interests and ambitions just as important to them beyond the court. So sports is not one-dimensional but an intrinsic element of a multi-faceted orientation that provides a much broader perspective on what is possible both within and beyond athletics. This is one of the reasons why Ivy athletes tend to have highly successful careers after their playing careers are over. Winning championships and playing at the Ivy level is important but in service to the bigger picture not at the exclusion of it.
 
What does it mean to you to be a Legend of Ivy League Basketball?
 
It is an incredible honor and privilege to be in the company of such powerful and compelling fellow Ivy League Legend recipients. I am probably most proud about representing my school, Columbia University, in the lineup. My time at Columbia was probably the finest years of my life and for this I will be forever grateful to all the wonderful people that make the experience what it was and for the school for embodying all the best qualities of an undergraduate holistic education.   

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Ellen Bossert was a Columbia women's basketball student-athlete from 1984-86. She is a member of the 2018 Class of Legends of Ivy League Basketball that will be formally honored during the 2018 Ivy League Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments on Saturday, March 10, at The Palestra in Philadelphia. Purchase tickets at IvyMadness.com. 

ABOUT AUTHENTIC IVY:
Authentic Ivy is Ivy League student-athletes, coaches and alumni, in their own words. Stay tuned to IvyLeague.com for more Authentic Ivy features throughout the 2017-18 year.