A former Duke Women’s Soccer team member, Kayla McCoy now plays professional soccer in Scotland with the Glasgow Rangers. Also an ACE in South Africa 2018 alum, McCoy shares lessons from ACE in sustainability, empowerment, and public health. She is now pursuing a Master’s in Public Health at George Washington University and recalls how ACE kick-started this shift in her career goals toward public health.
What are you doing now? How did ACE influence your career pathway?
I am currently living in Glasgow, Scotland and playing soccer (football!) professionally with the Glasgow Rangers. I am also enrolled in a master’s program and studying Public Health through George Washington University.
The ACE program had a big impact on my desire to study Public Health. The ACE in South Africa program participated in a kids sports camp that focused on physical education as well as nutrition and health education. At the time, I was finishing up my premed requirements and was planning on taking the MCAT after graduation. However, my time at ACE helped to influence my decision to change my career path from a clinical medicine direction to a public health direction.
However, my time at ACE helped to influence my decision to change my career path from a clinical medicine direction to a public health direction.
– Kayla McCoy, ACE in South Africa 2018
Now, as I am finishing up my master’s program in the spring of 2023 and once I finish playing soccer, I plan to pursue a career in preventative health care through community-based programs specifically focused on obesity prevention, nutrition, and physical activity to promote physical health.
Share one lesson you learned from ACE that still holds true today.
One lesson that I learned from my ACE program that I often think about today is the importance of empowerment and sustainability. Although we built relationships with the people in South Africa, led a sports camp, built a playground structure, and helped teach women how to use basic computer software, there is a limited amount of lasting impact that can be made in such a short time during the short 3 weeks that we spent there.
The important thing about a program such as ACE is that it empowers those whose country we visit to continue the work that we participated in beyond our time there. Groups of student-athletes from ACE will come and go, but the people that live and work there day in and day out are tasked with the true responsibility to make real change and impact.
“The important thing about a program such as ACE is that it empowers those whose country we visit to continue the work that we participated in beyond our time there.”
– Kayla McCoy, ACE in South Africa
As members of a short term service group, it is our responsibility to help where we can to support the sustainable programs and empower those living there to continue the good work they are doing.
Describe your ACE experience in as few words as possible:
The ACE experience was life-changing. Being able to visit a new country with a new group of people and experience a new culture was so exciting and fun and left me with memories that will last a lifetime.
How have you kept in contact with people from your ACE program?
The group of student-athletes that I traveled with to South Africa five years ago still keep in touch! It is great to be able to continue to follow each others’ lives and maintain a relationship. I know that if I go anywhere in the world where my ACE friends are, I can meet up with them and have a great time!