Each month the Southern Conference will feature a student-athlete from around the league in a series called the SoCon Spotlight. This will be an opportunity to get acquainted with the student-athletes in a different light. The question and answer session will focus on a student-athlete who contributes away from the field, course, mat or court through community service.
This month's SoCon Athlete Spotlight focuses on College of Charleston's Emily Morgan, a senior psychology major from Cincinnati, Ohio. Morgan plays defense for the Cougars, and this summer she took her soccer skills with her on a mission trip to Paraguay with Athletes in Action. We recently sat down with Morgan to talk about her mission trip and her experiences as a student-athlete at College of Charleston
Tell us about yourself.
"I'm a senior this year at the College of Charleston. I play soccer here, and I play defense. I have a younger brother named Jimmy, and I'm originally from Cincinnati, Ohio."
You're a captain on this year's squad. What's your favorite thing about being a captain?
"I just really love the team this year. I think that we have a really unique dynamic with this group. It's rare that you get to play on a team where everybody gets along so well. Brittany [Schneider] and Julie [Romanik] are the two other senior captains, and they are awesome as well."
We're definitely here to talk about soccer, but along with your soccer, your community service and outreach programs that you've been involved in. Tell us a little bit about Athletes in Action.
"Athletes in Action is a sport ministry. They have all kinds of sports, pretty much everything. I went with the soccer branch of it this summer to Paraguay."
How did you like Paraguay?
"I loved it. It's unique. I don't think you'd go there for vacation, but I really loved it. It had a lot of character I think."
How did you become involved with Athletes in Action?
"Actually my roommate last year, Megan Manthey, she was a senior last year, she just came to me and asked if I wanted to go. It was kind of random really. She was planning on going. She knew that I wanted to do something similar for the summer, and she came and asked if I wanted to go. I said yes."
Can you tell us a little bit about your trip?
"It was amazing. I was there for a month and a half I think. We did everything from play soccer with an actual team - we played I think eight games or so - and then the rest of the time we did outreach stuff. We worked in soup kitchens, and we put on soccer clinics for the kids."
What were your expectations going into the trip?
"I did not have any expectations going into the trip to be honest with you. I've never been out of the country, so that was the first time. I don't know, I knew that it was going to be an amazing experience going in, but I didn't know what to expect."
You said you knew it was going to be an amazing experience. What was your favorite part about that experience?
"It's obviously a Christian outreach, so tons of stuff for me personally. It was amazing. I just loved meeting all the people there. We started out with a group of about 11 and then some people left. Megan and myself stayed a little longer, so we got to meet a whole new group of people. Just getting to know the people that were on the trip as well as the people that we got to meet while we were there because we were there for a month and a half so we got to establish some relationships which was good."
Through that month and a half were you able to learn a lot about yourself too?
"I think the trip mainly served as personal growth."
You met a lot of people. What's one of the best things that you learned from somebody?
"I really learned to appreciate what I have a lot more to be honest with you. The director of Athletes of Action has twin daughters, and they came and they were looking at our stuff and they said, 'Oh my gosh you have so many clothes.'" I'm thinking to myself, this is probably nothing - I brought five t-shirts - just to really appreciate what we've been given."
What was the biggest challenge with your trip?
"I'd never been out of the country before, so I think the biggest challenge was probably just not having a lot of the amenities that we have here, but you get used to it honestly. I think maybe just traveling was probably the biggest challenge."
How have you been able to take what you've learned there and the challenges that you faced and have them help you with everything here from school work to soccer?
"A big part of the trip was about integrating personal faith in our sport. It just kind of gave me a new perspective on soccer and on life in general. I think it was really helpful just my mentality about how I play soccer."
What would you tell other student-athletes that are looking to do something a little different for the summer?
"I would say go for it for sure, whether or not it's just studying abroad or going on a mission trip or anything. It's a really amazing experience. I've never heard of anybody who has gone on a trip like I did or just did a study abroad program for the summer who hasn't enjoyed it. I would say do it."
What's your favorite part about being a Southern Conference student-athlete?
"Honestly, my team - I think that coming here I had a really good experience with all of my teammates, and I've made friendships that are going to last longer than these four years. I think that's probably my favorite part of all of it."
You're senior night is coming up this weekend. Are you getting excited about that?
"I'm really excited. It's been an amazing four years. It's sad, but it's mixed emotions."
What do you think is the biggest thing you'll take with you after you leave the College of Charleston that you've learned here?
"I mean definitely the friendships. I don't know, I think it's just an amazing experience overall. You kind of learn what it's like to work with other people, and obviously you learn a lot about yourself over four years, so I think that the whole experience really has just taught me a lot."
You're a psychology major. What do you plan on doing after you graduate?
"I think I'm going to take a semester off, but after that I'm planning on going to graduate school for four years to get a Ph.D. in clinical psychology."
You've been a continued member of the Academic Honor Roll. What's your favorite class?
"I really enjoy all of my psychology classes. I think once you find something that you're really interested in, it's easy just to really enjoy the classes that you take. Obviously school is school. It's not always enjoyable, but I really do find an interest in a lot of the classes I take, just my psychology classes in general."
Do you think you can take what you've learned in your psychology classes and take that on another mission trip? Do you plan on taking another mission trip like that?
"I definitely plan on going on more trips in the future. As far as the psychology aspect I don't know. I think that would be interesting."
What's your favorite thing about the College of Charleston - not sport related - just the College of Charleston?
"I really just love the city, just the atmosphere. There are five of us in my house, and we all live right near the Battery, like a block away, so it's really just an incredible city. I really can't imagine going to school anywhere else. It's just so beautiful."
Photo Credit: Southern Conference
