It didn’t take Rebecca Sheinfeld long to start reaping the rewards of earning her master’s degree. “I got a head coaching job immediately at Methodist University after graduate school at age 24,” she said. “That is pretty rare, and it is because of my work at ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ both academically and within athletics.” She also teaches at the university, which she could not have done without her Master of Arts in higher education.
One of the reasons for her success was her position as a graduate assistant with ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ’s lacrosse team. “The graduate assistant program allowed me to learn and then apply immediately my learning with the team I worked with,” she explained. “ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ offered the opportunity to coach at a high-level lacrosse institution while pursuing a master’s program that was tailored towards academic support.”
Despite the coursework being primarily online, Rebecca says that she always felt a sense of connection with the other students and faculty. “I knew a lot of the students in the program because of the assistantship, but the faculty always did a great job of finding ways to learn more about us and were willing to tell us about their lives.”
As a head coach, Rebecca’s leadership role isn’t just on the field. She supports her players academically with weekly meetings and study strategies. She is also an advisor for the student-athlete advisory committee (SAAC).