TERRI
SMITH SPOTLIGHT9-27-02
So you think you have a hectic schedule with work, family needs and attending all those VCU events? Prepare to be humbled. Among the numerous outstanding student-athletes at VCU who balance a challenging academic load with the demands of Division I athletics is one Terri Smith (Prince Frederick, Md./Calvert), a senior field hockey player and the subject of this week's Ram Spotlight.
Smith's career began like any other in the fall of 1997, when she started 18 games and had an assist in her freshman year. Then during the spring season, Smith was injured in an intrasquad scrimmage when she was accidentally struck in the head by an opponent's stick, causing a large welt near her left eye. The injury also caused Smith to experience severe migraine headaches brought on by exercise, forcing her to the sidelines.
That summer, Smith encountered another obstacle. The financial commitment to attend VCU was too great for her family despite a partial scholarship from the field hockey program, and the decision was made to stay at home in Maryland and work while attending a junior college. After a year of saving, Smith returned to Richmond but was still unable to pay the outstate tuition to enroll at VCU. Then in August of 2000, with the help of her boyfriend, former men's soccer goalkeeper Adam Mead (right), and Mead's father, Smith obtained a customer relations job at Capital One, whose benefits include tuition reimbursement after working full time for one year.
Smith finally returned to VCU and this fall she's back on the field hockey team playing the sport she loves. But there's a catch. In order to earn full tuition reimbursement from Capital One, Smith must work 40 hours per week. And in order to be eligible to play field hockey, she must take at least 12 credits. Get the picture? Smith works from 7:00-11:00 in the morning, attends classes and practice, studies when she can (she takes 14 credits as a mathematics major) and returns to Capital One and works from 7:00-11:00 at night.
"Everyone thinks I'm crazy," said Smith. "The people at work, the freshmen on the team, no one can believe I'd have this schedule just to play field hockey.
"I didn't want to leave VCU as someone who quit, I wanted to finish what I started. I did everything I've done the past few years to come back and play on the team. The freshmen don't understand how much they'll miss it if they don't go through it and have an opportunity to play out their careers."
Smith's long road back culminated in the second game this season against Ohio when she scored the Rams' first goal in a 2-1 win over the Bobcats, who were an NCAA tournament participant last year. "I was cranky before that game, and while I was getting my ankle taped I told (assistant coach) Adrian Clewlow that as a freshman, I missed an open-cage goal against Virginia and how that's stuck with me," Smith said. "He told me, 'You'll get one today,' and I did. The ball came to me in a perfect spot and I didn't miss this time."
At this point, some readers may be thinking that Smith isn't crazy, she loves her sport and is displaying the type of work ethic that more young people should possess. Here's where opinions of Smith's sanity change: Smith and longtime boyfriend Mead are getting married... this Saturday! So Smith has been working 40 hours a week, taking a full load of classes, playing field hockey and PLANNING HER WEDDING this fall. "Everyone in the wedding party, as well as my mother, lives out-of-state, so I had to pretty much arrange everything," said Smith, who will marry Mead at the Louis Gintner Botanical Gardens. "Adam did more than most grooms, including ordering the cake."
Mead, VCU's all-time leader in starts as a goalkeeper from 1998-2002, has played an important role in Smith's comeback. "Adam's the only reason I'm back on the field," Smith said. "He told me that if it's what I want, he's behind me 100 percent. If you're going to have a schedule like I have, you need someone to tell you you can do it."
As for Smith's physical problems, she still gets headaches at times as a result of what doctors have called post-concussive syndrome, for which there is no cure. But for Smith, it's just another bump in the road. "Playing in the games, I get the best feeling. To be out there with the whole uniform on and lined up with the team, it's worth everything I've been through."
But Terri, mathematics? Couldn't you find a major that doesn't require such a huge time commitment? "I love math," Smith proclaimed.