Emilia Kruzel: Buffalo NY Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Kickboxing & Women's Fitness Member Feature

Emilia Kruzel: Buffalo NY Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Kickboxing & Women's Fitness Member Feature

This weeks featured fighter from Women's Fitness Member is EMILIA KRUZEL!

Buffalo NY Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Kickboxing & Women's Fitness Member Feature

November 8, 2013

by Cara Nassar

Emilia is a self-proclaimed nerd.

She is a doctor. And by that I don't mean your typical shot-slinging, prescription writing, stethoscope-wearing doctor. 

She has her doctorate in the bio-molecular chemistry, and is a bit of a humanitarian, but you would never guess it. At least I never did.

But, I can honestly admire anyone that would give up making more money for the sake of doing something that they not only truly love, but that benefits the less fortunate populace. And she actually enjoys that aspect of it.

This one was truly, truly a pleasure, as I always appreciate sitting down with an intelligent mind and having an interesting conversation. I guess I can relate on that nerd level :)

How did you find us?

I moved to Buffalo in January and tried a few gyms. I saw the Groupon and felt I needed something different. Yoga studios made me homesick, so this was a refreshing change of pace!

Were you always into fitness?

Yes. I was a competitive swimmer for fourteen years. I started when I was 5 years old. I always worked out and took some martial arts. I did Tae Kwon Do for about 6 years and as I got older just wanted to do stuff to keep me sane. More recently, I’ve done a lot of yoga and running. When I was five, people thought that I was on steroids because I was jacked! I mean, I was a five year old with huge biceps, and they thought that my dad was giving me something because he is so intense when it comes to athletics [laughs]. But really, I was just a jacked five year old! [laughs].

What is your favorite thing about the Women’s program?

The classes are tough and the people here know what they are doing. Since I’ve been an athlete for a long time, I had specific questions and I wanted to see what the skill of instructors was. Overall I’ve been impressed! They know what they are talking about.

What is your least favorite thing?

Those red bags! I hate those.. the ones they make the girls workout on. Or another thing I don’t like is if I leave NOT super tired.

What are the biggest changes you’ve noticed from the program?

I started in April. I've been an athlete and worked out compulsively my whole like, but this is the strongest I've been in a long time. So strong that some of my shirts don’t fit across the shoulders anymore! [laughs] I don’t know if I’ve lost weight, but I sure have slimmed down and gotten a lot stronger. I also feel that a really tough workout is good for my sanity. I like feeling like I have a place where people know me and are interested in motivating me. It’s such a nice feeling.  It’s empowering. And I live alone in a new city so to feel so strong and empowered is great.

Who has influenced you the most?

Max and Steve. They both have taken an interest yelling in my ears when I want to stop doing push-ups. [laughs] Since I've been in martial arts I like seeing good athletes around it’s really motivating.

I know you have quite an interesting career, what exactly do you do?

I am a post-doctoral research scientist. I do medical research, studying a parasite that causes African sleeping sickness. It is a disease that is endemic to rural Africa. It’s transmitted by the tse-tse fly, and when it bites livestock or people it’s incurable and will kill the person, or livestock. It’s a completely fatal disease and a big problem for subsistence farmers.

How did you get where you are today with your career?

A LOT of school. I’ve been a huge nerd my whole life and the of the really tough classes in high school I liked biology the most. So I started my undergrad in genetic and molecular biology and then I did pre-med at Northwestern. I started learning about medical research and decided I wanted to do that over medical school. I did my PhD in bio-molecular chemistry at the University of Wisconsin Madison. All and all about a decade of school after high school. SO MUCH SCHOOL! I feel so old when I say that. [laughs]Anyway I graduated, took my post doctoral in Madison and my boss relocated here. I’m from Chicago originally, but I just kind of followed my boss and the work here.

Do you have any advice to someone seeking their doctorate, such as myself!?

If you are going to go to school for a long time, do something you really like, something that you are good at, and something that you are so interested in you are willing to make less money to keep your mind occupied with it.

What is the most interesting thing, in your opinion, about your work?

I guess what motivates me to do the work. First, these diseases that affect poor people don’t make a lot of money. Therefore drug companies have no interest in investing in them. There is a need for the public to invest, simply in the interest of humanity. Research technology and genome sequencing is at the point where our treatments and diagnostic abilities aren’t caught up with one another. I’m really interested in how genes contribute to disease. It’s two-fold for me.. it’s an important area to invest in but I also find it really fascinating.

What is your favorite thing about your work?

I get paid to think and I have a lot of freedom to design experiments and think about scientific problems in a way where I don’t have a boss telling me what to do with my time. Since I hate authority it’s a really good system for me. 

What is the most rewarding thing about your work?

Training scientists and helping them figure out if that’s their thing. I also love working on potential avenues for new drugs and new diagnostics. I couldn’t be a doctor, but I contribute to global doctors. The best way that I can describe it is that a medical doctor is like a mechanic, I’m more like an engineer.

What is something about you that people here don’t know? Besides that you’re a doctor!

[Laughs] I like travelling. I’ve been to Russia, Turkey, Japan, South and East Africa, Zanzibar. Mozambique and Tanzania. A bit of Europe. I like getting stamps on my passport. [laughs] Being an academic scientist, a perk is the flexibility I have with my schedule. I have the ability to take weeks off at a time. My sister and I went on a bunch of trips. We would pick a place and go for a few weeks. Sometimes work pays. They paid for my Japan trip. I spoke in Nagasaki. I was invited to give a short seminar on my PhD work, which was about a fungal disease.

What three words would you use to describe yourself?

Intense [Laughs]. Sarcastic and Nerdy.

“Emilia is a doctor. [laughs] She is the kind of girl that every trainer wants in their class. While most people slack when you turn your back, she pushes through even harder because she is that committed to her results.” 

– Steve “E-Tips” Horton 

“Emilia is definitely a leader in our classes; she’s always pushing everyone she works with to have the best workout.” Danielle McDonald, member

Hope you enjoyed this weeks Buffalo NY Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Kickboxing & Women's Fitness Member Feature!