“It is a unique opportunity to make meaningful connections with new people while also having a foreign cultural experience. I am so excited to work with and learn from other student-athletes, as well as learn from the communities we are working with.”
Jacie’s past experiences with service include advocacy for causes such as Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and One Love. As a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, Jacie has participated in a fundraiser run that supports CASA, an organization that advocates for fair representation in court for abused or neglected children. Jacie, along with her teammates, also advocates for One Love, a campaign committed to educating people on relationship abuse. The Stanford Women’s Lacrosse team is currently participating in “Yards for Yeardley” a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of relationship violence and to show support for One Love.
Dear Future #ACEathletes,
- Best advice for learning about ACE: I would say actually talking to past participants in the program was extremely helpful for me in terms of choosing the best program for me. Also, reading the program summaries online as well as the blog posts written during past programs were helpful for me.
- Best advice for applying for ACE: Make sure, throughout all of the processes, you stay genuine and stay yourself. If you find a program or a cause within a program that you are particularly passionate enough, that passion will shine through when you’re going through the processes in a true, genuine way.
- Best advice for getting started at your program: I would recommend going into the program with an open mind. Staying open to the place, the student athletes who are there with you, and the people you are working with will make it much easier to form strong relationships.
- Tips for getting to know your community: EXPLORE! It’s great to read about places and people, or watch videos about them, but I think the best way to really understand a place and the people living in it is by exploring the place physically, to by talking with the people face-to-face.
- Tips for training: Running and lifting with other student-athletes was one of my favorite aspects of this program. Learning how to erg, for example, was really enlightening and definitely a good workout. I would say that workouts are always better with a buddy—find someone or a group of people to do workouts with.
- Reasons for staying involved in ACE: I think the ACE program is incredibly unique and provides an opportunity for student-athletes to learn more about the world, their role as leaders and role models, and themselves generally. I was extremely impacted by this program and I hope to continue to be a part of it for a long time.