On His Game: NCAA Showcases Mount Alum
12/6/2019
Please note: This story originally appeared on NCAA.
Going global: How 5 postgraduate student-athletes continued their game abroad
For most NCAA student-athletes, their playing days end at commencement or whenever their eligibility runs out. However, not all student-athletes are ready to stop competing or stop learning after they walk across that stage.
NCAA After the Game caught up with five former NCAA athletes who seized opportunities to continue to pursue both passions—while getting a taste of life in another country. These men and women enrolled in international graduate programs that provide student-athletes an avenue for earning a master’s degree while continuing to play their sport.
One of those athletes? Mount Saint Vincent’s own Andrew ‘Drew’ Curiel ’18.
Why study abroad?
“Why not continue to play a sport that you’ve been playing your whole life, get another year out of it and get to impact so many people that either come to your games, play with you or are around you? The sense of another degree on your resume is something that’s going to help you in the long run. It gives you credibility not only among employers, but also among other people. You get to walk into a room and have a different light shed on you because you lived in another country, played a sport, impacted the kids and people in your community, and you also got another degree under your belt.”
What was different about playing your sport in a new country?
“It wasn’t as much pressure, which I enjoyed, as I knew my basketball career was coming to an end. Any time you missed a shot, they said: ‘Oh, no worries. Get the next one.’ And they legitimately meant that. Over there, it’s a lot more relaxed.”
How did the experience change you?
“I’m more relaxed and patient with people now because that’s how they are in Ireland. Like all the things from my student-athlete days, I don’t feel the sense of anxiety or the sense of being in a rush like I used to. I’m more chill, and I really do credit that to Ireland because that’s how every single person was around me.”
A former basketball student-athlete at the University of Mount Saint Vincent, Drew earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2018. He played on the basketball team at the Limerick Institute of Technology in Limerick, Ireland, where he earned a master’s degree in business with a concentration in marketing and management strategy in 2019.
Check out the full NCAA feature.
About the University of Mount Saint Vincent
Founded in 1847 by the Sisters of Charity, the University of Mount Saint Vincent offers nationally recognized liberal arts education and a select array of professional fields of study on a landmark campus overlooking the Hudson River. Committed to the education of the whole person, and enriched by the unparalleled cultural, educational, and career opportunities of New York City, the College equips students with the knowledge, skills, and experiences necessary for lives of professional accomplishment, service, and leadership in the 21st century.