{"id":8633,"date":"2020-02-25T10:06:04","date_gmt":"2020-02-25T15:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/?p=8633"},"modified":"2023-08-04T09:27:20","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T13:27:20","slug":"more-than-just-a-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/more-than-just-a-game\/","title":{"rendered":"More than Just a Game"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>We had just won our MAAC semifinal\ngame against Niagara, but I didn\u2019t have much time to celebrate. As soon as I\nleft the field that night, I showered and jumped in my car to drive straight to\nRhode Island. I had another major event slated for the next morning: presenting\nmy research at the International Studies Association-Northeast conference, just\n12 hours after my game ended. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I was younger, I had hoped\ncollege would be a place where I could balance my love for soccer with\nacademics. But, honestly, the way both have unfolded these last few years has\nbeen a surprise even to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-magazine-aside\">\n<header class=\"wp-block-magazine-aside-header aside-header\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"on-the-field-and-in-the-class-room\">On the field and in the class-      room<\/h2><\/header>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-magazine-aside-body aside-body\">\n<p class=\"bignumber\">4x<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MAAC regular season and tournament champion <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"bignumber\">3x<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MAAC All-Academic Team selection <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"bignumber\">6x<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dean\u2019s List honoree <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m the third in a family of four\ngirls, and I\u2019ve been playing soccer since I was 5. At first it was mostly about\nkeeping up with my older sisters, but soon my love for the game grew much\ndeeper. For years, I spent almost every free moment practicing or playing in\ngames and showcases all over the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By the time I was in high school, I knew I wanted to play Division I soccer in college, but I arrived at Monmouth still unsure what subject I wanted to study. Then I took a political science class with Professor Ken Mitchell. I loved everything about it\u2014the material, the way he taught. After taking another poly-sci class the following semester with Instructor Ryan Tetro, I walked into my advisor\u2019s office and said, \u201cI <em>need<\/em> to make this my major.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Things took off from there. I interned\nat a small law firm in New York City during the summers after my freshman and\nsophomore years. As a junior, I did mentored research with Assistant Professor\nof Sociology Jennifer McGovern, analyzing the socioeconomic backgrounds of\nelite women\u2019s soccer players. Our findings were published last June and\nreported on in media outlets around the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another one of my professors,\nInterim Provost Rekha Datta, suggested I apply for the 2019 Summer Scholars\nProgram. I spent last summer working with her on a research project that\nexamined the United Nations\u2019 Sustainable Development Goals. We investigated how\nthose goals are being implemented on a global scale, as well as at the local\nlevel through sustainability initiatives enacted by the Asbury Park City\nCouncil. Ultimately, that\u2019s why I headed to Rhode Island between MAAC playoff\ngames: I was presenting my findings from that research. (Almost everyone there\nthought I was a Ph.D. student!) <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In January, I had the opportunity\nto travel to India with Dr. Datta, Associate Professor Joseph Patten, and my\nfellow Monmouth Hawks Debate Team members. Being fully immersed in the culture\nthere was an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience. In Mumbai, we visited\nnongovernmental organizations and at-risk schools, where we taught students the\nstructure of debate and discussed the issue of gender inequality in India and\naround the world. When the students stood up and debated to show us how much\nthey had learned, I could not have been more proud. My hope is that they will\ncontinue to hone their critical thinking, analytical thinking, and public\nspeaking skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I arrived at Monmouth four years ago, I had no idea all of these experiences lay ahead of me. (Nor could I have predicted the four MAAC championship rings I\u2019d win with the soccer team.) I feel so lucky to have connected with professors who create such amazing opportunities for their students. They extend the invitations, but then it\u2019s up to you to take them. I believe college is what you make of it, and I\u2019ve worked hard to make the most of these past four years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer midfielder Esther Wellman has found success on and off the field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":8639,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[94,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8633","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\/2020\/02\/18-Esther-Wellman-071-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-200x300.jpg\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-8639 wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" role=\"presentation\" style=\"object-position:50% 50%;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/18-Esther-Wellman-071-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/18-Esther-Wellman-071-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/18-Esther-Wellman-071-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/18-Esther-Wellman-071-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/18-Esther-Wellman-071-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/18-Esther-Wellman-071-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-1120x1680.jpg 1120w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/18-Esther-Wellman-071-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-560x840.jpg 560w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/18-Esther-Wellman-071-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-280x420.jpg 280w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/18-Esther-Wellman-071-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-320x480.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/18-Esther-Wellman-071-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-640x960.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/18-Esther-Wellman-071-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-1536x2304.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/18-Esther-Wellman-071-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-1400x2100.jpg 1400w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/18-Esther-Wellman-071-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-828x1242.jpg 828w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/18-Esther-Wellman-071-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-360x540.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/18-Esther-Wellman-071-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-9x14.jpg 9w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/18-Esther-Wellman-071-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/>","catString":"Athletics, Play","issue":"Spring 2020","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8633","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\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8633"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16771,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8633\/revisions\/16771"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}