Baker, Ericson enjoy CEU’s classes, teachers

This archived article was written by: Chris Henrie

Smart, funny and athletic, Ashley Baker and Maren Ericson serve as two of the four returning sophomores on the CEU Golden Eagles’ volleyball team.
Born and raised in Layton, Baker attended Layton High School where she played volleyball and softball. Now she is only interested in playing volleyball for the Eagles, as well as being VP of activities on student government.
In her spare time she enjoys creating art, making jewelry, crocheting projects and doing ceramics. “I’ve never snowboarded or gone skiing, I’m a sledder. It’s because I’ve got an awesome backyard at home with a pond that opens up after this huge forest into a huge four-wheeler trail down to the stream.”
She enjoys driving, or hanging out with her family when given the opportunity. She likes hanging out with friends, but also what she calls “loner nights.” These nights are where you get a whole pizza to yourself, as well as a gallon of ice cream. No males are allowed, only women.
Her favorite animal when she was younger was always a wolf. Now Baker likes any kind of primate. If she could have a superpower, she would like to have super strength – that way she could be a super hero and save people from danger. Baker has no interest in being a super villain.
Baker is happy about being a member of student government where she oversees the people who are in charge of the specific activities.
She chose to attend CEU because of the scholarship offers, as well as the fun environment and small class sizes. “I like small class sizes because it’s easier to suck up to the teachers, not really, I just like the fact I can get to know the professors easier.”
So far Baker has enjoyed attending CEU. She enjoyed last year the most because she had lots of friends and always had something to do, even though it was doing things in Price. She said that living in Price has made her more creative when it comes to thinking of things to do.
Ericson was born in Fresno, Calif., and moved to Layton when she was 2. At 11, her family moved to Kuna, Idaho. She has four siblings, one older sister, two younger sisters, as well as a younger brother. In her spare time she enjoys watching reality television with Heather McFarland.
In high school she played basketball, ran track and played softball. In track she ran the 4×1, 4×2, 4×4, the open 200 and triple jumped. She enjoyed doing a little bit of everything. She loves attending CEU, “with as much as people make fun of it, I think it’s so cute and I love it.” Ericson chose to attend CEU because it was the best fit and CEU gave her the most money to come to school.
Ericson likes her teammates, especially after a couple visits to other schools, she found there were nasty girls on the team. She is undecided about where she will go after graduation from CEU.
She is talking to a couple different colleges, but is certain that she will play somewhere. “I’m also undecided about my major but I’ve decided that I want to go to law school.” That is her ultimate goal. Her favorite animal would definitely be dogs, because she has a cute little dog at home.
Her outlook on how the Eagle’s volleyball team did this year is optimistic, and is convinced that they’ve done a lot better than last year. She thinks that the defense is doing a whole lot better as well.
Her favorite thing about CEU is being able to make good friends. McFarland is also her favorite thing about CEU.
Ericson also liked the small class sizes, just because she came from a pretty small high school. The transition wasn’t bad for her, and she liked the fact that she didn’t have to jump from small to a big university, that she sort of eased her way into it.