For the Seattle University men’s and women’s swim teams, service has become ingrained in the very culture of the programs, where it is expected and enjoyed as a team.
“When I first came to Seattle U, during our preseason in September, right off the bat we went to a soup kitchen or homeless shelter to feed them lunch,” Nick Connors remembers. “I had never done that before but it was like ‘Alright, here we go’. That was my first community service at Seattle U and then we just kept doing things like that. So that was my baptism by community service,” he said with a laugh, “and I really liked it.”
The community lunch program is still something the teams are involved in to this day, from a couple to several times per year.
After winning the Team Mission Award in 2012, it has been the team’s goal to repeat the honor in the years since.
“[Head coach] Craig [Nisgor] is very big about this Mission Award, so he was very happy when we got it before and wanted to keep that going,” Connors added. “For the next two years, it was like ‘Next year, next year’. This year, I think, it really did click with everyone contributing ideas for community service. It’s been a goal of ours to get that award again so it was really neat.”
The team participated in several events across the city of Seattle throughout the year including with the Boys and Girls Club, Washington Brain Alliance, Swim Across America, as pen pals to elementary school children, and more.
Even showing the close knit nature of the Seattle U athletics teams, the team offered their large, puffy deck coats to the women’s soccer team for their NCAA tournament game at Washington State.
“Our assistant coach, Katherine Kubancik, came up with the idea,” Allie McGavock said. “We had just gotten our new deck coats this year so it was just kind of a no brainer to let them use them in the freezing cold.”
For Sam Donohue, writing letters to elementary kids in Arizona, students at a school that serves mainly minority and immigrant children, was a highlight of the year’s commitment to service.
“I thought it was really cool because, for these kids, the idea of college isn’t even on their radar yet. It was just cool to hear about their lives and have a relationship with these kids who we will probably never meet. We got to tell them what it’s like to go away to college in a different city and hopefully get them excited about the idea of going to college.”
As with several of the service opportunities this year, it was not just upperclassmen leading the charge. Freshman Julian Morales brainstormed the pen pal idea because his mom is a teacher at the school.
“It’s cool to see the younger guys contributing to the culture of service,” Donohue credits. “It’s a good sign for the future.”
Sophomore Carlee Bock brought to the group the idea to make sandwiches and hand them out to homeless people in downtown Seattle, so several members of the women’s swim team put the plan into action.
“We probably filled maybe 20-30 bags with sandwiches and took them around Seattle and just handed them out,” McGavock tells. “It was really fun to just go downtown and talk to random people who were asking for money, but instead we asked them if they wanted a sandwich. Some said no but a lot of people responded positively to that.”
Connors has been a key figure in organizing the team’s participating in Swim Across America, the two mile swim to benefit local cancer research.
“I’ve done it for two years, this will be my third year and I’ll be organizing signups this year. We’ve been really supportive of it and they always reach out to us and say ‘Get as many people as you can, we love having you there’. It’s kind of our annual thing, so we’ve always enjoyed that. It’s really fun.”
One of John Fulmer’s favorite memories from the year was spending time with kids at the local Boys & Girls Club.
“We were only there an hour or two but, each day, they start with reading and then they’re allowed to play. We got to read with them and then some kids played computer games, others played pool or ping pong, and it was a lot of fun. It was neat because they were so excited that we were there and willing to hang out with them.”
The team bonded over doing service projects together this year and made awarding them the Mission Award a no brainer, an inevitable honor.
“It felt a lot more natural this year,” McGavock said, looking back. “Someone would come up with an idea and then on weekends, we’d go do it. In years past, it would be a big planning thing like ‘We’re going to do this in two months, who’s going to sign up?’ but this year, it was like ‘Oh I want to do that, ok I’ll do it too’ and everyone just pitched in. We love to hang out with each other and give back to the community, so it’s a positive experience for everyone and really brings about a team aspect as well.”
Giving back provides a positive outlet – and a reality check.
“You’re student-athletes, so you’re a student, you’re an athlete, and then this third kind of identity of community service,” Connors said. “I think it’s really neat because it can either be an auction where you get to dress up or you’re going downtown in sweats and giving out sandwiches, or you’re just writing a letter. It’s just so different from that student-athlete perspective and I think it brings the team together in a different way than sports. And doing something bigger than yourself.”
Fulmer adds, “It keeps you in check with reality. If you don’t do those types of things, you might not really understand that not everyone lives the same way you do. There are a lot of people in need and when you visit the homeless shelter, you really realize that. And I think it just makes you more willing to keep giving back to the community.”
Through service as part of a complete experience thus far at Seattle U, they each have taken lessons away from the experience.
McGavock advises, “Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. As a student-athlete, you’re really busy, but the more things you’re involved in, the more connections you make with other people.”
“Leave your prejudice at the door coming in,” Donohue adds. “I found, for me, that I’m experiencing college most fully when my ideas are being challenged or I’m challenged to do something I hadn’t tried, or think in a way I hadn’t thought, or by a new idea. Just be able to see the value in diverse opinions and be open to those ideas, even if you don’t agree with them.”
“I would say really submerge yourself within your team, but also venture out and see what others are doing because it just makes you stronger and can make your team stronger,” Connors agrees. “Freshman year, I know that’s hard, but really pushing yourself to do that will set you aside from so many other people.”
Fulmer concludes, “I would just add that college is really what you make of it. It doesn’t matter where you came from or what you started with. You can come to college and you can be or do whatever you want. You can do something completely different if that interests you. Nothing really holds you back so you shouldn’t be afraid of trying new things or doing things that interest you.”