Iowa State University graduate is first female Steak Cookoff Association world champion
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted Marissa Ouverson's time in college, but it also gave her the opportunity to become the first woman to be a world champion in steak grilling — as well as underscore the importance of her chosen career path in mental health.
Ouverson — of Kansas City and graduating from Iowa State University this weekend — was the 2020 Steak Cookoff Association's world champion, the first female and youngest person to do so.
The 2020 competition was held in March 2021, when she received her $10,000 prize.
That victory and everything Ouverson's done since was the culmination of months on the road — made possible by remote learning — and helped her cope with mental health challenges many people faced during the pandemic.
Ouverson, who studied psychology, said she came into college knowing she wanted to go into counseling, specifically on suicide — she's had friends in her life who struggled with mental health, and she wants to serve teenagers and maybe veterans.
People ask her what she's going to do after college and when she tells them, they tell her "'Especially after COVID, that's something that's definitely needed today."
"It always has been needed, and there's not enough people in this field. We all make a difference, but if there were so many more, I feel like there could be such a big difference," she said.
More: After her son died, an Iowa mom is using his legacy to help youth find mental health support
'Being able to cook, it let me have an outlet.'
Ouverson had not competitively grilled before the pandemic, but her dad and brother had done so in barbecue and she liked being involved with that.
When the pandemic came, she hit the road with her family. Remote learning and her mom being a flight attendant (she took months off from work) made it possible for Ouverson to continue her studies online while she competed in grilling competitions once those started up again — 54 competitions in 12 states in a year, according to a video made about her story by the university.
Learning on the road had its benefits and challenges. Ouverson said doing quizzes particularly was a struggle, given limited internet access sometimes. One time in Arkansas, she lost all connectivity in the middle of taking a quiz. Her mom was driving, and as soon as service came back, they pulled off to the side of the road for her to finish.
Despite that, "I got a lot done all the time. We'd be in the car for six, eight, 10, 12 hours at times. I had a lot of time to get it done and so it really wasn't difficult. It was just putting your mind to it, that you have to sit in the car and do homework all the time."
When she got back to classes that looked more like they did before the pandemic, it was easier to sit down in the room and concentrate on her work, she said.
"Being able to cook, it let me have an outlet. I didn't have to stay within one place," Ouverson said. When it was safe to do so, she still got to go out and do something that released stress.
"I feel like I would have had a lot more struggles after the pandemic if it wasn't for being able to cook and being able to be outside, and being able to be with friends."
She put some of her prize money toward her online cooking class, which includes how-to advice for ribeye steaks and chicken street tacos.
She's pleased by the amount of people who have shared that the experience with her class made them more comfortable cooking. She said there have been multiple people who said they cooked for the first time and got an award for it with the help of her class.
"Just that they are so thankful towards me, appreciative, it makes me feel so happy and blessed that I get to be able to do that and be the one to help them," she said.
Ouverson said she also wants to put her prize money toward setting up an organization to encourage children to get into cooking.
More on food and family: 'This is the side Maktoum wanted us to see': ISU, Emirati embassy remember student with scholarship
Being a world champion griller does come with some expectations from people — to be the one who cooks at parties and tailgates.
"I chuckle all the time. It makes me laugh," she said of the assumed responsibility — and sometimes she does end up cooking. She and her boyfriend recently went to the home of his uncle for a family dinner, "and we ended up cooking all the meat, because he also competes in steak competitions."
Ouverson likes her steaks medium rare at home, definitely with more pink than the medium that competition requires. She's all for spices and seasonings as well. "For competition steaks, I put butter on it at the end."
Above all, she wants women and especially younger women to know they can do what she's done.
She said she went into a sport with men of all ages but not many women or young girls in it — maybe only four or five, including her, when she started, but that's already begun to change.
"That's the biggest and most amazing thing for me to think of, that I was the first woman to do it. A lot of girls, women and even men recognize that and they are super proud of me," she said.
More Iowa State news: Iowa State student leaders, activists concerned about natural gas conversion at campus power plant
Phillip Sitter covers education for the Ames Tribune, including Iowa State University and PreK-12 schools in Ames and elsewhere in Story County. Phillip can be reached via email at psitter@gannett.com. He is on Twitter @pslifeisabeauty.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Iowa State University graduate first female to be steak grilling world champion
