College Check-In with Denise Devlin '18: Celebrating Spartan Alumni Competing in Collegiate Athletics

11/5/2019

In February 2019, St. Stephen’s celebrated National Signing Day with a special ceremony in the school Chapel honoring the eight members of the Class of 2019 who signed letters of intent to play sports in college at the Division I and Division III levels. These student-athletes joined a growing number of Spartan alumni who attend colleges ranging from Amherst, Bryn Mawr and Brown, to the University of Washington and Washington University in St. Louis, competing in sports such as field hockey, football, rowing, soccer, track and volleyball. Through this recurring feature, College Check-In, St. Stephen’s will periodically catch up with our alumni-athletes to shed light on the unique challenges and rewards of playing varsity sports in college.

Denise Devlin ’18 – Member of National Champion Rowing Team at University of Washington

After graduating from St. Stephen’s in 2018, Denise Devlin matriculated to the University of Washington, where she was a member of women’s rowing team that won the NCAA Championship in June 2019.

What was your transition like going from high school to college?

I am fortunate to say I had a pretty smooth transition into college, and I believe this largely has to do with the support I received being on an athletic team. I’m not going to lie, it was a little overwhelming going from such a small, intimate school like St. Stephen’s to my general chemistry class at Washington with 200 other students and never recognizing a single face as I walked from class to class. But athletics made me feel like I had that more intimate community like before. I think incoming freshman feel lost sometimes because it is easy to lose structure to your day with the freedom college gives you. But with my intense practice schedule, I was forced to stay organized. I also never felt lonely because my teammates quickly became my closest friends, and I always knew they had my back. I was able to find my place here.

What advice would you give high schoolers who are preparing to play collegiate athletics?

I would advise high school seniors entering collegiate athletics to really enjoy their summer! That sounds kind of obvious, but being a freshman on a collegiate team is more exhausting mentally and physically than I was prepared for. You are about to expose your body to a whole new level of training and will be asked to reach a new level of performance. This is super exciting because you will do things you did not think you could. So I would recommend that you enjoy the summer and then get pumped for the new season! For those students who are considering competing in athletics beyond high school, I would advise them to carefully consider if they really love the sport and if they feel like they learn something from it, not simply if they feel like they are good at it.

What has been your biggest challenge transitioning to collegiate athletics?

The biggest challenge was handing the mental challenge that comes along with it. I have had some of my greatest moments on this team, but it has also been one of the hardest things I have ever done. It is really easy to feel a lot of pressure. You get pulled in a lot of different directions, needing to perform well in class and also excel at practice. I had to learn—and am still learning—not to be so hard on myself and give myself some credit at times.

How has your St. Stephen’s experience helped you in making the transition to being a student-athlete in college?

St. Stephen’s helped me a lot when it comes to handling my school work. As we all know, the teachers assign A LOT of work (ha ha ha!), so I felt well prepared for that. I also feel like a lot of the teachers at St. Stephen’s emphasized to me the importance of learning—to learn not just for a grade. People at college are so concerned with their GPA that they do not take advantage of all there is to truly learn while at the university. I feel like St. Stephen’s taught me to explore beyond just my textbook, and that mindset has led to really interesting conversations with my professors and experiences at college.

What has been the highlight of your collegiate athletic career so far?

After we won NCAAs this year, so many tears were shed and the team has been celebrating ever since! Our team would do anything for each other. One of the things we always say is, “pull for each other.” We talked a lot about using our love for one another as a way to fuel our performance and take us to the next level, so it was really emotional to see that embodied in our NCAA win.

What did you do during your first summer in college?

This summer, I stayed in Seattle to do an internship with King County working in the environmental lab. I was an intern in the microbiology/aquatic toxicology division that works on water quality monitoring and sampling throughout the area. St. Stephen’s definitely helped instill my love for the environment (Go, Green Goblins!), so I was happy to focus on environmental work this summer.

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