Empire 8 Gives Back: Meaghan McGwin, Keuka College

Women's Basketball | 12/2/2021 10:15:59 AM

Meaghan McGwin is currently in her third season as a member of the Keuka College women's basketball team in 2021-22. She is averaging 10.3 points and 6.0 rebounds this season and has played in 33 career contests for the Wolves, averaging 8.8 points and 4.9 boards per game.

A native of Hilton, NY, McGwin also serves on Hartwick's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and is an occupational therapy major. She carries a 3.82 grade-point average.
Institution: Keuka College
 
Sport/Position: Basketball/Forward

Academic Major: Occupational Therapy
                                   
GPA: 3.82

Class Year: Junior

Academic Honors/Clubs:

• SOTA (Student Occupational Therapy Association) / OT honors
• SAAC

Community Service Roles:
I have always tried to give back to my community and be avpart of my campus community. In high school I was in the National Honor Society and on three sports teams, so I volunteered often, which allowed me to make connections within my community which was really nice to form relationships. Now at Keuka College, our community and teams still try to give back. With COVID-19, it's been a little difficult but we have been brainstorming ways to give back, especially during the holidays there are many people who have need and like to give.

Why did you join SAAC? What’s was your goal when joining?
I joined SAAC because although I am a leader on my team, I also wanted to be a leader in the among all of our student-athletes to help our voice be heard about specific topics to help improve our school in any way possible. I like to think of myself as someone my teammates can come and talk to about a situation anytime they need. I am able to project their feelings as long with mine to someone higher up who will listen to us and want to help.

What projects are you currently working on in your campus community?
We are focused around the holidays coming up. My coach and I have bounced some ideas off of each other and have spoke with other community members at Keuka to come up with having some families we can sponsor and buy for gifts for Christmas time and provide them with the necessities, whatever that may be; including socks, underwear, winter jackets, or even toys for the kids. We also thought about visiting with the elderly at a nursing home in town.

What’s the biggest challenge you are facing with these projects? COVID restrictions, only virtual, fundraising?
The biggest challenge we are facing while trying to make these projects become reality is that some sites in town aren't allowing visitors or a group of people to come in right now to volunteer at their facilities. However, we are trying to make the volunteer work under COVID guidlines and making ure the people get what they need. COVID has put a damper on a lot of projects lately, but by sticking together and working each detail out one by one will make it worth it in the end.

How do you stay connected with your college community under COVID guidelines?
Since Keuka College is 99% vaccinated, we still take the COVID precautions but we have gone back into some type of normalcy. We will have some virtual meetings however, but most of the time seeing everyones faces in person is the way to go and it makes the experience all that more rewarding.

What is Your Proudest Community Service Achievement?
Last year around Thanksgiving I was a part of a huge project back in my hometown of Rochester, New York. We created a thanksgiving oriented food drive and gave our community “grocery lists” and we made up over 1,000 Thanksgiving Meal baskets for families of our community who were in need. Every day seeing all the bags line up one by one, hundred by hundred was incredibly rewarding, and giving the baskets to the families when it was time made all the early mornings and late nights of packing up the baskets worth it, knowing it was feeding over 1,000 families on Thanksgiving.

What Role has Basketball Played in your Personal Development?
Growing up I was always a part of sports, I played soccer, basketball, and lacrosse all throughout high school and continued with basketball here at Keuka College. Growing up, I was always a part of camps and coaching for younger kids in summer camps for the summer and that was always cool since when I was younger I always looked up to the kids who were coaching me when I was their age. There is so much more to sports than just winning and losing. Each win or each loss will teach us something bigger in our lives for our future. Learning to be a part of a team, a family, no matter what, and having the want and passion to take your team to battle.
 
Why Did You Decide to Attend Your School?
Keuka College has amazing programs, not only academically, but recreationally as well. Being on the lake is definitely one of the best perks but Keuka also incorporates field periods we must complete each year that allows us to explore careers, study abroad, volunteer, etc. It is a real eye-opener and has many great benefits. Keuka also has a really good Occupational Therapy program which is the main reason why I picked Keuka, the fact that I was able to continue playing the sport I loved making it all that much easier to attend.

How has Playing Collegiately and in the Empire 8 Prepared You For Life After College?
As a student-athlete, we must learn to manage our time, with classes, studying, getting in the gym, and practice. Playing collegiately also has improved my skills as a leader and working with other people.

Favorite Athletic Memory from Your Time in College:
My favorite athletic memory from my time in college is freshman year my first ever collegiate game. I remember I was so nervous of messing up or if I was going to even play. We were playing Canton which, coincidentally, one of my friends I played against in high school played at. That made it kind of comforting knowing it was both our first collegiate basketball game and we were playing against each other and I ended up scoring 17 points.

What is Your Ultimate Professional Goal?
My ultimate goal is to graduate from the Occupational Therapy program, which is a five-year master’s program, and to practice as an OT, specifically with kids who have disabilities.
 
Favorite Professional Athlete/Pro Team: United States Women's National Team/Sue Bird (Seattle Storm)

Favorite Movie: Grown-Ups

Favorite TV Show: Criminal Minds

Last TV Show You Binge Watched: Maid

Favorite Food: Mac and Cheese

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Chocolate
 
One Thing Most People Do Not Know About You: I am left handed
 
Advice to Younger Student-Athletes on Why You Chose to Play a Collegiate Sport and Why Playing A Sport and Getting Involved With SAAC is So Important/Beneficial?
Playing a Collegiate sport is a great way to find yourself and “your group”, connecting with other athletes is super fun, and supporting each other at each other’s games are really fun. Playing a sport in college also helps manage your time. The transition from high school to college can be hard with workload, finding friends, etc. Sports has always brought me to the best people, while staying in shape, and being a good student. Getting involved with SAAC is beneficial for not only yourself, but your team because you can be that leader if you ever hear something that people want to be changed, everyone is always open to ideas and finding a way to help improve that situation. Also by being the leader, other people either on your team or not will see you as someone they can confide in without having to go straight to adults because that can be scary to some.

The Empire 8 Conference's “Empire 8 Gives Back” Series features a student-athlete from one of its member institutions who promotes community service and serves in a leadership role within his or her athletics teams or SAAC.

ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit www.empire8.com.
 
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