A member of the Wellesley College Swimming & Diving program, Patricia Chen '18 is a Psychology major and an aspiring collegiate athletic administrator. She has helped guide the Blue to four straight Seven Sisters Championships during her four years with the program, but her athletic accomplishments extend well beyond the pool. Last summer, she attended the NCAA Career in Sports Forum, the US Olympic Flame Program, and worked as an intern with the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC), and her account of her 'Summer in Sports' is our first Division III Week feature.

From Active Athlete to Active Administrator

By Patricia Chen '18 

I arrived at Wellesley with no idea what I wanted to do as a career. Since my first year, besides spending hours in the pool every week with my teammates and pounding away at my studies, I would spend time in the athletic offices working as an assistant to Mindy Mangels, Wellesley's former Associate Athletic Director and current assistant golf coach. While I pondered what my future would look like, I found the answer in a familiar place.

After the conclusion of my junior season at the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship swim meet, I realized I only had one season left to be a student-athlete but there was no way I was going to give up sports that easily. Sports have always been a part of me, growing up around sports-crazy Boston and with swimming being a family sport, I watched my older sister move on from Wellesley and participate in triathlons, but I wanted to find a way to keep the collegiate sport community at my fingertips.

I shared this epiphany with Mindy, but also with Bonnie Dix, my head coach, and Bridget Belgiovine, Wellesley's Athletic Director. They helped me through the next steps of contacting alums and painting a picture of what my path from a liberal arts college to a career in athletic administration might look like. This led me to apply, and be accepted, to the NCAA Career in Sports Forum and the FLAME (Finding Leaders Among Minorities Everywhere) Program run by the US Olympic Committee. I was also able to secure a summer internship position with the NEWMAC.

I began my summer in early June with the NCAA Career in Sports Forum. It was my first time in Indianapolis and at the NCAA Headquarters. I met over 200 like-minded collegiate athletes during the course of this program, student-athletes who had the same passion of wanting to give back to collegiate athletics in the future. The panelists and speakers gave all of us a better idea of the differences among the three divisions, how athletic conferences run, and how the NCAA functions as a national organization. I came away with a broader horizon of where I could play a part in collegiate sports in the future. I also learned the importance of networking and keeping an open-mind to change and new ideas to expand my professional self as well as my personal self.

After returning to Boston, I started my NEWMAC internship, while also working as a swim camp counselor at the Technique Swim Academy at Harvard University. At the NEWMAC, I worked closely with Executive Director Patrick B. Summers and assistant directors, Jen Miller-McEachern and Taylor Teixeira. I was a 'sponge' during our weekly meetings and phone calls, soaking up everything I could to gain a better understanding about the bigger picture of how the conference works and what small details needed to work for the NEWMAC to function well and serve all of its member institutions.

Towards the end of the summer, I made my way to Colorado Springs and attended the FLAME program. With only 27 attendees, this program was geared towards highlighting the importance of diversity and inclusion while informing us about all the opportunities available to be a part of the Olympic movement. Everyone there had a passion for sports and among the amazing speakers and panelists who spoke to us were a handful of Olympians who made history, including Dr. John Carlos and Tommie Smith, whose iconic gesture at the 1968 Olympic games is still one of the greatest political moments in Olympic history. We also met Jason Collins, the first professional athlete to come out as openly gay while still competing in the NBA. During the eight-day program we conducted a mini torch ceremony, received a tour of the Olympic Training Center by World paralympic swimming athlete Roderick Townsend, and had the opportunity to learn and play paralympic sports such as goalball, sitting volleyball, and wheelchair basketball. I had not been aware of the extent of the Paralympic movement until attending FLAME. The leadership development program focused on those who are minorities only accentuated my desire to make a mark in sports from the administration side.

This year, I've focused on the importance of branding, professional development, and networking with my fellow student-athletes and peers. I've also continued working in the athletics offices and expanding my knowledge of the ins and outs of how a member of the NEWMAC conference operates while also keeping in touch (and possibly continuing work) with my NEWMAC contacts throughout the school year and I'm excited to see what the future holds.