2023 Gossett Fellows Capstone Presentations

Senior student-athletes in the Barry and Mary Gossett Fellows Program presented their final Capstone presentations at Gossett Hall on Tuesday, April 25. 

Program Director of Student-Athlete Career Development Nate McGill introduced the graduating class saying, “I can confidently say, we have some of the most talented and brightest students in the nation.”

The presentations from the Gosset Fellows covered key parts of the student-athlete experience: transitioning into Maryland, networking, diversity, mental health, and transitioning out of Maryland. 

These topics were covered in five group presentations for each aspect of a student-athlete career at the University of Maryland. Along with discussing their experiences with Maryland Made and the various programs Maryland offers its athletes, the presentations included recommendations to provide a better student-athlete experience in the future.

Austynn Lacasse, a biology major and senior on the women's gymnastics team, enjoyed having the opportunity to meet and work with athletes from different sports in her group. 

Lacasse said, “All four of us have actually never even spoken outside of this program… But it really gave us a chance to meet each other and learn from each other.”

“I think that the suggestions were the strongest part of each of the presentations,” she added. “I think it's extremely useful to the programming directors and administration and the athletics department to see how we think the programs can improve.”

David Foust, a marketing and supply chain management double major, was able to balance his time as a quarterback for the football team and be involved in Maryland Made.

On top of being a director of student engagement in SAAC, Foust was excited to have the chance to offer recommendations for the future through his Capstone presentation. 

Foust said, “It was a great time preparing with my group to be able to come out here and present. It was a lot of fun.”

“This is an amazing experience,” Foust added. “For pretty much my entire time in college and high school I’ve wanted to use my experience to help anybody else that may be in a similar spot one day. Being able to have a little direct impact on that is a great feeling. I’m excited to look back and see it play out in the coming years.”

Emily Sterling, a Public Health Science major, found a source of guidance and motivation through the Maryland Made Mentor program. The mentor program was a big part of her capstone presentation.

Sterling felt her mentor Natalie was key to helping her find her way into the medical field before her time as an athlete at Maryland was over.

“I knew I wanted to be in the healthcare field, but I wasn’t exactly sure what my role within the healthcare field would look like,” Sterling said. “Natalie’s really been able to open my eyes into all the different avenues that I can explore.”

Sterling said having a mentor by her side allowed her to “step out of my comfort zone, try things I didn't think I was necessarily interested in, and like I learned more about myself and my professional skills.”

Gerald Norgbe, a senior finance major and has a minor in African studies, is a member of Maryland’s track team. For him, the capstone presentation gave him a chance to give his experience with diversity within Maryland Made and offer recommendations for the future.

“As I got into the Maryland Made program, I started to discover people who were similar to me and had similar career goals and aspirations beyond just athletics, it made me want to focus more on that,” Norgbe said. 

“Having a chance to offer insight into how to unite athletes even though they are divided by sports,” he said. “It’s like a full circle moment.”

Norgbe hopes that other student-athletes will follow his path in joining the Gossett Fellows. 

“To sum up Gossett Fellows in one sentence: it’s really just an investment in yourself”

“Gossett is a building dedicated to student-athletes and these programs are for student-athlete development...Once you show up, you've done half the work already.”