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Jillian Wolgemuth is a Duke 2020 graduate, former Duke Field Hockey team member, and current U.S. National Field Hockey Team member. Also an ACE in Vietnam 2018 alum, Wolgemuth recalls how ACE taught her how to work cohesively as a team and adapt to new environments like Australia, where she is currently training.

What are you doing now? How did ACE influence your career?

Since graduation I have continued to play hockey with the U.S. National Team. This fall two teammates and I are in Hobart, Tasmania competing with the state team in the Australian hockey league. It is the off season for international hockey so when the opportunity arose for us to train overseas I immediately said yes.

Since ACE I have spent two short term stints living in other countries. My ACE summer in Vietnam taught me the power of diverse cultures and people. The life experience you gain living in new places cannot be matched as your norm is constantly challenged and you are faced with a decision- hide within yourself or embrace new ways of life. The Australian lifestyle is much more similar to my standard environment than the Vietnamese, but I continue to face new obstacles here.

What is one way ACE helped change how you think about something?

One beauty of our time in Vietnam was the common mission we were all on as a single team. Ten American and seven Vietnamese college students all set out to support and coach a group of local campers. Nearly all of us had never met and we were asked to hit the ground running as we led these students through academic and sport lessons. It was anything but seamless.

Near the end of the first week another coach and I got into a dispute over how the weekly competition between teams should be handled. We were physically exhausted from 5 days of teaching and coaching in the heat, emotionally weary from daily enthusiasm we showed campers and determined that each of our own strategies were best. A fellow coach stepped in to moderate, first reminding us of the main objective was to teach the students and ensure they had fun. After the needed reality check, we settled on a plan everyone was on board with.

“ACE has given me the tools to cohesively work with them towards our goals rather than focusing on my perspective.”

– Jillian Wolgemuth, ACE in Vietnam 2018

As the goals in my life have gotten bigger, the individuals I’m joined by in attempting to reach them tend to get more driven and passionate. Both of these qualities I desire in teammates but can lead to division if we do not keep the main objectives firmly in sight. Now as a member of the U.S. team, I constantly remind myself to step back and look at the big picture. My teammates are brilliantly inspiring women whom I sometimes disagree with. ACE has given me the tools to cohesively work with them towards our goals rather than focusing on my perspective.

women walking through tree alleyway
Oanh and another Vietnamese staff member on our walk to the students home.

Describe your ACE experience in as few words as possible:

Fully engaging international service, with a bit of adventure.

What was the most meaningful part of your ACE experience?

Even while on my ACE experience, I knew I was gaining more than I was giving. My hope was to serve the local community, which I feel we did thoughtfully. But between the ACE trainings, relationships with my Vietnamese and American co-coaches and daily lessons the students taught us, my contribution was far outweighed.

I learned adaptability, to listen first, and the power of a cohesive team. There is an inordinate amount of change in life. I love this. It keeps us on our toes, constantly learning. However, it can be demanding. The quicker I am able to enter a new environment and be comfortable, the sooner I will be able to understand people more deeply and why places function in the way they do.

“The quicker I am able to enter a new environment and be comfortable, the sooner I will be able to understand people more deeply and why places function in the way they do.”

– Jillian Wolgemuth, ACE in Vietnam 2018

On one of our final evenings in Long My the entire camp walked to a students home. For two hours I walked through rice paddies alongside one of our Vietnamese directors and she shared with me a few of her Buddhist beliefs and childhood memories. So often I offer up my experience or opinion and later ask questions. Oanh exemplified the opposite, she was so patient yet had extensive wisdom to impart.