{"id":2083,"date":"2018-04-11T09:59:42","date_gmt":"2018-04-11T13:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/?p=2083"},"modified":"2023-08-04T09:30:07","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T13:30:07","slug":"higher-purpose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/higher-purpose\/","title":{"rendered":"Higher Purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As college students approach graduation, they often set their sights on what they can go out and <em>get<\/em>. For Nick Wilker, the focus is on what he can <em>give<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Wilker, a midfielder for the men\u2019s lacrosse team, completed Officer Candidate School (OCS) at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia, last summer. He is scheduled to be commissioned in July before returning to the base this fall to attend The Basic School, a six-month program in Marine officer training. Wilker\u2019s sole objective is to give back by serving his country.<\/p>\n<aside>\n<header>A Program on the Rise<\/header>\n<p>Since its 0-13 inaugural season, Monmouth\u2019s men\u2019s lacrosse program has quickly soared to the top of its conference. Last year\u2019s squad went 14-4 while winning the MAAC regular season and tournament championships. This year, the Hawks were a unanimous pick to finish first in the MAAC\u2019s Annual Preseason Coaches\u2019 Poll. They\u2019ll have a chance to defend their title at home next month, when they host the 2018 MAAC Men\u2019s Lacrosse Championship in Kessler Stadium, May 3 to 5.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cI want to do my share to make the world a better place,\u201d says Wilker, a political science major. \u201cFor me, the military\u2014and specifically the Marine Corps\u2014is the best way to achieve that. I would not be where I am today if not for the men and women who have served past and present, so I want to give back to them and my country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wilker arrived at Monmouth from York, Pennsylvania, with a reverence for service. His father, Nathaniel, was a hospital corpsman, petty officer 3rd class, in the Navy from 1987 to 1993, and his grandfather, Vince Craig, was a yeoman in the Navy from 1963 to 1965. But it was a Hawk teammate, Eric Berger \u201917, who ultimately struck the match that ignited Wilker\u2019s charge to protect and defend. Berger completed the OCS program a year prior, before returning to captain Monmouth last season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI looked up to Eric and could sense how proud he was after his experience in OCS,\u201d says Wilker. \u201cWitnessing that, along with the pride my dad and grandfather have for their service, I knew it was something I wanted to do, and felt I should do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>OCS is a 10-week program designed to screen and evaluate potential Marine Corps Officers. The physical training was a challenge, but Wilker held an advantage as a student-athlete. Preseason workouts with Monmouth Head Coach Brian Fisher conditioned his body and mind to handle the grueling regimen. He encountered an even tougher challenge in week three, when he tore a tendon in his shoulder while completing an obstacle course. Dealing with obvious pain, Wilker had a decision to make: He could undergo an MRI to confirm the tear and risk being sent home from OCS, or he could endure the pain and continue. Wilker gritted his teeth for the final seven weeks and graduated.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, surgery was imminent, and as a result, he is inactive for his senior season. But Wilker is taking on a different role this spring, serving as a student coach as the Hawks try to defend their 2017 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship. While it is not the storybook ending most players dream of, the transition suits Wilker\u2019s character. He is drawn to, and takes great pride in, helping others.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love Monmouth, and it\u2019s been an amazing experience,\u201d says Wilker. \u201cMy professors in political science have been great mentors, and they have always been there to help me. They are a big reason why I\u2019m thinking about a career in teaching following my service.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sidelined by an injury this season, senior Nick Wilker has embraced his new role on the men\u2019s lacrosse team while staying focused on his next stop: the Marine Corps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":2255,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"{\"x\":60,\"y\":27}","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[94,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","category-play"],"thumbnail":"<img width=\"200\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/nickWilkerv2-200x300.jpg\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-2255 wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" role=\"presentation\" style=\"object-position:60% 27%\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/nickWilkerv2-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/nickWilkerv2-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/nickWilkerv2-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/nickWilkerv2-1120x1680.jpg 1120w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/nickWilkerv2-560x840.jpg 560w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/nickWilkerv2-280x420.jpg 280w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/nickWilkerv2-320x480.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/nickWilkerv2-640x960.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/nickWilkerv2-2048x3072.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/nickWilkerv2-1536x2304.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/nickWilkerv2-1400x2100.jpg 1400w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/nickWilkerv2-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/nickWilkerv2-828x1242.jpg 828w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/nickWilkerv2-360x540.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/nickWilkerv2-9x14.jpg 9w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/nickWilkerv2.jpg 2400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/>","catString":"Athletics, Play","issue":"Spring 2018","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2083"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2692,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083\/revisions\/2692"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}