espnW Campus Conversations Brings Insight for Orange Student-Athletes
10/27/2017 4:48:00 PM | General, Academics
Five highly successful Syracuse University graduates returned to campus to share their professional wisdom and advice with current Orange female student-athletes. The conversation between former collegiate student-athletes and current student-athletes – who all bleed Orange – was facilitated to support, educate, and inspire the undergrads in their collegiate careers.
The event began with a panel discussion about 'the great pivot' in life and how to prepare personally and professionally for life after college and college sports. ESPN personality Beth Mowins '91 M.S. and featured former basketball standout Vera Jones '88, rowing letterwinner Melissa 'Emme' Aronson '85, lacrosse student-athlete Kirkland Locey '14 and volleyball Academic All-American Keri Potts '98.
Mowins opened the forum by asking the panelists about the transition from being a student to becoming an adult in life after college. Jones, who helped lead the Orange to two BIG EAST Championships, turned to the basketball players in the room and asked what the hardest position to play. They immediately responded with point guard, center, forward. She fired back with a strong no, "The hardest position to play is the bench."
Jones emphasized that the bench is so much more than a place you sit when you aren't good enough to play or when you are taking a rest during a timeout. She created the following acronym to help explain how important the bench is to an athlete: B: Breathe E: Evaluate N: Nourish Patience C: Cheer H: Hunger
Potts, a volleyball co-captain during her undergraduate career and now senior director of communications of college sports at ESPN, shared her perspective that that students who weren't student-athletes are at a disadvantage.
"As a student-athlete, you don't need someone to tell you if you did good or not," she said. "You know. You've played your whole life. That is your advantage."
The panel opened up to questions from the student athletes. Isis Young, a redshirt junior on the basketball team, wants to pursue a career in broadcast journalism and asked how can she embrace what she is doing now to make it in this industry. Mowins, who this season became the first women to handle play-by-play a nationally-televised NFL regular season game, voiced how important confidence is.
"You should walk into a room like you are in the starting lineup," she shared. "Comfort leads to confidence."
Senior rower Sarah Konishesky was inspired by the panel.
"It is empowering to see that there are successful and strong women post-collegiate career," she said. "I look forward to following their success and taking their tips and finding my path to success."
Following the hour-long panel discussion, the student-athletes broke up into individual sessions with the panelists. Senior track & field student-athlete Tia Thevenin and junior softball team member Alicia Hansen enjoyed the personal aspect of the individual sessions.
"The panel was good, it got everyone comfortable and talking, but the breakout sessions were the perfect touch," Thevenin said.
"They took the time to get to know you on a personal level and gave us ideas on how to move in the right direction to achieve our goals," Hansen said.
The event also made an impact on Syracuse coaches in attendance, including assistant women's soccer coach Kelly Lawrence.
"espnW Campus Conversations provides our female student-athletes access that few are able to experience," Lawrence said. "One of the great aspects for me as a former student-athlete and leader of young female student-athletes was that the theme was all about what we, women, can do."
More on the panelists:
The event began with a panel discussion about 'the great pivot' in life and how to prepare personally and professionally for life after college and college sports. ESPN personality Beth Mowins '91 M.S. and featured former basketball standout Vera Jones '88, rowing letterwinner Melissa 'Emme' Aronson '85, lacrosse student-athlete Kirkland Locey '14 and volleyball Academic All-American Keri Potts '98.
Mowins opened the forum by asking the panelists about the transition from being a student to becoming an adult in life after college. Jones, who helped lead the Orange to two BIG EAST Championships, turned to the basketball players in the room and asked what the hardest position to play. They immediately responded with point guard, center, forward. She fired back with a strong no, "The hardest position to play is the bench."
Jones emphasized that the bench is so much more than a place you sit when you aren't good enough to play or when you are taking a rest during a timeout. She created the following acronym to help explain how important the bench is to an athlete: B: Breathe E: Evaluate N: Nourish Patience C: Cheer H: Hunger
Potts, a volleyball co-captain during her undergraduate career and now senior director of communications of college sports at ESPN, shared her perspective that that students who weren't student-athletes are at a disadvantage.
"As a student-athlete, you don't need someone to tell you if you did good or not," she said. "You know. You've played your whole life. That is your advantage."
The panel opened up to questions from the student athletes. Isis Young, a redshirt junior on the basketball team, wants to pursue a career in broadcast journalism and asked how can she embrace what she is doing now to make it in this industry. Mowins, who this season became the first women to handle play-by-play a nationally-televised NFL regular season game, voiced how important confidence is.
"You should walk into a room like you are in the starting lineup," she shared. "Comfort leads to confidence."
Senior rower Sarah Konishesky was inspired by the panel.
"It is empowering to see that there are successful and strong women post-collegiate career," she said. "I look forward to following their success and taking their tips and finding my path to success."
Following the hour-long panel discussion, the student-athletes broke up into individual sessions with the panelists. Senior track & field student-athlete Tia Thevenin and junior softball team member Alicia Hansen enjoyed the personal aspect of the individual sessions.
"The panel was good, it got everyone comfortable and talking, but the breakout sessions were the perfect touch," Thevenin said.
"They took the time to get to know you on a personal level and gave us ideas on how to move in the right direction to achieve our goals," Hansen said.
The event also made an impact on Syracuse coaches in attendance, including assistant women's soccer coach Kelly Lawrence.
"espnW Campus Conversations provides our female student-athletes access that few are able to experience," Lawrence said. "One of the great aspects for me as a former student-athlete and leader of young female student-athletes was that the theme was all about what we, women, can do."
More on the panelists:
- Beth Mowins: Mowins is a Syracuse native and played basketball at Lafayette College. She graduated from Syracuse with a Master's degree. She is currently a play-by-play announcer and sports journalist for ESPN and CBS.
- Vera Jones: Jones is a motivational speaker, author, award-winning television and radio broadcaster. She was inducted into the Syracuse University Orange Plus Hall of Fame in 2002. She currently broadcasts the college women's basketball on the Big Ten Network.
- Emme Aronson: Aronson is a model, social reformer and body image advocate. She is a member of the Syracuse University Orange Plus Hall of Fame, where she was inducted for her significant contribution to women's athletics and to the sport of rowing
- Kirkland Locey: Locey is currently the Business Development Manager at Bozzuto, a residential real estate company.
- Keri Potts: Senior Director of Communications for College Sports at ESPN, Potts is responsible for coordinating and guiding the strategic communications efforts around all college sports event and studio content. A GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American in 1999, Potts won the Soladay Award presented to the University's top female and male student-athletes, and was named the Orange Plus Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
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