This week is pretty much a universally stressful one for college students. Getting ready for finals alone is enough to keep most of us busier than we would like; but for seniors, who also have the pressure of figuring out life after college, this time should be packed full enough, without adding any extra obligations to their agendas.

Bethany Brewster doesn’t seem too bothered by the hectic schedule. The fifth-year senior track star is filling her plate with enough activity to make most people’s heads spin. Bethany has the final track and field meet of her incredibly accomplished career this weekend ? the finale in a nearly unparalleled career at Wisconsin.

But that’s only the start of it. Recently engaged, Bethany has taken it on herself to plan every detail of her September wedding, and to take care of such details as flower preparation and making invitations by herself. She’s also somehow finding time to learn sign language on the side.

Perhaps Brewster’s resilience to the stress of the next few months’ time restraints has something to do with a past filled with overcoming somewhat daunting obstacles. From the beginning, her running career has overcome adversity. Her high school in Freeland, Mich. didn’t even offer Brewster a track. To train, Bethany and her teammates were forced to run laps around the school parking lot.

In her sophomore year under scholarship at Wisconsin, Brewster suffered from a rare injury for a runner. She fractured her fifth metatarsal ? a bone in between her ankle and her toe — forcing her to redshirt the year.

When she visited her first choice of college, Villanova University, the track and field program was in such shambles that the coach admitted to her that she’d be better off elsewhere.

Bethany has met each challenge she’s been faced with, literally, in stride. Rarely have the words “easy” and “injury” been used by an athlete in the same sentence, but Bethany seems to shrug off the idea that having to rehab and missing an entire season could have held her back.

“You really can’t run without it,” she admitted, but quickly added that, “It wasn’t too bad.”

In regards to the absence of a real track at her high school, Bethany laughs and says, “It was kind of exciting. It was as if the cars were chasing us. That’s how we got fast.”

When she realized that Villanova wouldn’t be the place for her in mid-May of her senior year, it was only a few weeks until she would graduate. After visiting, she decided Wisconsin would be better for her anyway.

And, boy, is everyone glad that she did. All she’s done over the past five years here is be named All-American five times and win nine Big-Ten championships ? all the while finding time to become All-Academic Big-Ten majoring in Human Development and Family Studies.

The success has done anything but go to Bethany’s head. She is amazingly quick to disperse credit.

Religion has been a large part of what has driven her to such heights. Bethany is actively involved with her Lutheran Chapel on campus.

“God has played a big role in my running life,” Brewster said.

At her high school, which was Lutheran, the runners would chant, “Run for the one!” before every race; it is a motto that she has lived by throughout her collegiate career ? a faith that has motivated her to keep working and achieving, both on and off the track.

Another source of inspiration in Brewster’s life has been Wisconsin women’s track coach Peter Tegen. Bethany cites Tegen, who has been coaching at Wisconsin for 29 years, as a major source of guidance.

“You learn more as you go along in the sport,” Brewster commented. “And Peter is just amazing. Where he’s been in life ? the things he’s done.”

Her parents and fiancé have lent a good deal of their support as well. Her father, Lyle and her mother, Marlene, have made it out to watch Bethany perform all over the country, from Kansas to Louisiana. And while he isn’t the most knowledgeable track and field fan, Bethany says the unconditional support of her fiancé, Emmanuel, takes a lot of the pressure off her.

“He doesn’t really know what a good track time is,” Brewster said. “So no matter how I run he’s excited and tells me I did well. He’s just happy that I’m running and that that makes me happy.”

Life after college isn’t set in stone for Brewster. While she plans to run professionally for some extent of time — she also may be coaching in the foreseeable future — she has applied for such a job at MATC.

Mainly, she is eager to help others in the way that so many have helped her. The closeness of her family ? both of her parents worked at home and were close at hand for her while she was growing up ? has given Bethany a desire to help others develop their families, something she hopes to pursue by eventually going to graduate school and studying counseling. For now, she’s focusing primarily on finishing up her collegiate career and on planning her upcoming wedding. Hopefully life will slow down sometime soon; and hopefully she won’t.