Kelsey Mashinski
Senior // Women's Soccer


What adversity have you faced during your career as a student-athlete in terms of injuries and how have you overcome them? Who or what helped you the most on the road to recovery and return to playing? 

During preseason my sophomore year, my left groin started hurting one day after training. I passed it off as nothing but a pulled groin, so I went to the athletic trainer and started rehab. Weeks passed with the same kind of pain, so I took a couple days off training thinking that I just needed to rest. Then, I came back, but the pain had only gotten worse. I saw the rest of the season through and got an MRI after it was over. The results showed that I had a full labral tear in my left hip, so in December of that year I had surgery to repair the tear. I was on crutches for a little over a month, if I'm remembering that correctly,  and I couldn't use the elliptical until about three-to-four months post-opertion.

During the time I was recovering, I was in the athletic training room every day running through exercises that Heather Olex, our brilliant athletic trainer, gave me.  Heather and the rest of the athletic training staff were really instrumental in my recovery and kept me going. The summer leaing into my junior season, I was only allowed to jog for about ten minutes a day and most days I was still in pain (even now it hasn't really gone away). I was really nervous about the fitness and skills test we had to pass the first day of preseason, but I managed to pass them all, which had probably been one of the proudest moments of my life. 

Junior season was about working me back into contact and improving the range of motion in my left leg. Unfortunately, during warmups before our game against Messiah in October, I took a shot to the face and ended up being diagnosed with a concussion, which brought my junior season to an end. Coming back for winter training was tough because I was still dealing with dizziness, neck pain, and stiffness. I was also dealing with pain in my right hip, something that occurred while I was training at my gym over winter break. I really relied on Heather and the athletic training staff to help me through dealing with my hip and my head. Todd Barnes, our Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, was also very understanding about my situation. He tailored our workouts to accommodate to my needs, so that I was still building strength even if it wasn't at a high level. My head and neck have recovered since my concussion, and my right hip doesn't hurt too badly anymore since I'm not pushing it too much. I always tell people that I've had more injuries in the past two years than in my life.  It stinks, but I've always been stubborn and determined that a few roadblocks never deter me.

As you work through your final semester at Arcadia, what are your future career aspirations following graduation? Who has helped you the most on that path?

I came into Arcadia with about 28 credits from taking AP courses in high school, so I was technically a sophomore when I was a freshman. Even though I have a major, minor, and honors, I can graduate a semester early, which I am taking advantage of. So, this semester is my last semester (and I'm sad I'm not in person for it!). My major is Actuarial Science, which is basically using math and statistics to quantify risk. I've always been naturally good at math and have loved the subject, so I knew I wanted to pursue some type of career in it.  My mom, who is a CPA and works with actuaries, mentioned actuarial science which led me to research it and it sounded interesting.

I had the pleasure of interning with Aon - a global brokering firm that focuses on health and benefits, resinsurance, and retirement - in their Radnor, Pa. office virtually this summer. They are also a sponsor of Manchester United which stood out to me.  I was working in the retirement group as a consultant, and on my second to last day, they offered me a full-time position! It was one of the happiest days of my life and I start in January 2021. I owe a huge thanks to my advisor and professor Irina Pogrebivsky, who, throughout my career at Arcadia has given me countless networking opportunities to meet other actuaries to build confidence and people skills that allowed me to learn more about actuaries in the real world. I had eight interviews with different companies and five internship offers by the beginning of October my junior year!  Professor Wolff, another one of my professors, has been one of my biggest supporters since my first semester at Arcadia. His spirit has made me push harder in academics because I want to make him proud. Even though I won't be returning in the spring as a student, I'll still be close so I can visit my professors, coaches, and teammates whenever I want.

What areas on campus are you involved in - such as clubs, organizations, etc. - and how have they helped shape your Arcadia experience?

My teammate Bri calls me the 'President of Arcadia' because I'm so involved on campus. When I began freshman year of college I knew that I wanted to make the most of it, so I joined everything to see where I could really contribute. After my first year, I found my different niches on campus. I've been an Ambassador for about three years and I get to give tours to prospective students on campus; I love that job more than anything. I get to meet new people and learn neat facts about Arcadia. The most rewarding thing is when you get that look from parents that says how grateful they are to you for showing them on campus. 

I have another job as a tutor at the Learning Resource Network where I tutor in anything having to do with mathematics and statistics. Also, I'm on the budgetary committee for the Student Government at Arcadia, and we handle all the club budgets. I also have the pleasure of being a peer mentor this semester for the Hunger Games first-year seminar. I peer mentored my sophomore year as well, and I absolutely love it. I really enjoy helping first-years find their way or even helping them with their homework if they need it. The first year of college is foreign and scary, so anything I can do to reassure them or help them with their transition from high school will hopefully make their experience a little better. 

Lastly, the thing I'm most proud of is ArcadiaFTK, of which I cam the Co-President and Co-Founder.  ArcadiaFTK is based off the idea of Penn State's THON, which holds fundraisers all year long and in February, they have a huge 46-hour dance marathon to celebrate their efforts. Last year, they raised over $11 million, and all of the money goes towards the Four Diamonds, a non-profit organization that financially and emotionally supports children being treated for cancer at Penn State Medical Center in Hershey, Pa. Several Pennsylvania high schools do something similar called mini-THON, where they do a 12-hour dance marathon. It was huge in my high school - and it's for a great cause - so I wanted to bring something similar to Arcadia. 

My friend, Hanna Grove, who was in one of my honors classes fall semester of my sophomore year was also very passionate about THON and the Four Diamonds. Together, we met with a ton of staff at Arcadia, including Dean Drew, and started organizing to get interest. That March, we officially got approved as a club and named it ArcadiaFTK. Last February, with the help of our amazing co-captains and their committee members, we fundraised all year and had our very first dance event called 'Dance All Knight' that was 80s themed and held in the Great Room. Our dance was from 7 p.m. to midnight, and the people who came seemed to have a great time! At the end of the night, we revealed our total fundraising for the year and while our goal was $5,000, we ended up raising more than $8,000. We were absolutely over the moon with joy. 

I did have a lot of people encouraging me to get involved on campus along the way though, especially Ed Kovacs, my first-year seminar professor, and Helen Klein, head of the honors program. Coach Rick Brownell also always encourages us to be more than just athletes because, at Arcadia, you really can do just about anything if you're proactive. Being so involved is stressful sometimes, but I've met so many amazing people who I probably wouldn't have gotten the chance to know if I had just focused on only playing soccer. Every time I walk around on campus I feel like I say hi to someone every 20 seconds, but I love it. Arcadia has really felt like home.