Throughout the spring semester, we are honoring our senior student-athletes with a "Senior Salute" series. Today's featured senior is Alexa Bencic, a biochemistry and molecular biology major from West Chester, Ohio. Bencic is a member of the women's soccer team.
Q: Why did you choose to attend The College of Wooster?
A: I wanted to find a school that valued education and athletics and would prepare me for my future after undergrad. Wooster has phenomenal classes and professors, a gorgeous campus, and is a place that very quickly feels like home. I loved the biochemistry and molecular biology major, the health coach program, and the ability to be involved in so many different aspects of campus life. However, the one thing that really tipped the scales and made Wooster my top choice was women's soccer coaches Geordie Brown and Wes Davis.
Q: What does it mean to you to be a Fighting Scot student-athlete?
A: Being a student-athlete means having a family you know will always have your back and give you endless support. I would not have made it through my time at Wooster without my amazing teammates and coaches. College athletics gives you the opportunity to compete at the highest level while also excelling in the classroom and being able to prioritize both. It gives you an outlet, a voice, and a way to represent something much larger than yourself.
Q: What are some of your favorite memories as a student at The College of Wooster?
A: I have treasured my time in the classroom with friends and being able to immerse myself in the lab and opportunities to get hands-on experiences. I will always remember the long hours I spent in the library or Lowry working on homework while bonding with teammates and friends. One of my favorite soccer memories is beating DePauw University in the last second of double overtime to go to the NCAA Div. III Championships for the second year in a row. I will always remember the 10-9 penalty-kick shootout against Kenyon College and the amazing dogpile we had after that win. Finally, I'll always treasure the NCAA Div. III Championships advancement past Case Western Reserve University on penalty kicks in 2019. I've never been surrounded by more joy and happiness in one moment in time.
Q: What's the best part about being a student-athlete at The College of Wooster?
A: The best part about being a student-athlete is the people you are constantly surrounded by. I firmly believe I have the best teammates and coaches on the planet. I am so thankful I have made friends I will have for the rest of my life and who I got to spend four amazing years with making the best memories. I have coaches who I could go to for help with anything and who I will most definitely stay in touch with. All the wins were a great bonus, but the mundane, day-in, day-out experiences have cumulated to more than I could have ever expected.
Q: What else were you involved with on campus besides your sport?
A: I'm a health coach and have loved every moment of being a part of that program with Wooster Community Hospital and being able to be invested in the local community. I'm a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and Wooster Women in STEM (WiSTEM) and had an APEX Fellowship. I am also a Peer Health Advisor and work in the science buildings and athletic department!
Q: Which College of Wooster faculty or staff member has made the greatest impact on you and why?
A: Coaches Geordie Brown and Wes Davis have by far made the greatest impact on me. They have supported, encouraged, and guided me through some of the most transformative and incredible years of my life. They have been my biggest fans, are always there to celebrate me and my joy, and have been instrumental in my growth and ability to rebound after setbacks. On the field, they brought out the best in my athletic ability and helped me develop into a confident, compassionate, fearless leader and competitor. Off the field, they were always there for me and my teammates no matter what was going on. They have been incredible. Without them I would not have made it through my four years at Wooster.
Q: Which other people or resources impacted your Wooster experience in a positive way and how did these people/resources set you up to be successful at Wooster?
A: Dr. (Mark) Snider, Dr. (Jeremy) Rapport, Dr. (Mark) Graham, Dr. (Paul) Edmiston, and Professor (David) McConnell have been phenomenal and I have loved working with them. Their classes have been instrumental in helping me achieve my goals of attending medical school beginning in the fall of 2022. They went above and beyond the classroom to support me in my application process and aided in teaching me lessons that covered much more than just academics. In addition, the APEX (Wooster's center for Advising, Planning, and Experiential Learning) staff was very helpful and supportive in enabling me to have an APEX Fellowship experience. That experience was monumental in my medical school application process.
Q: Tell us a bit about your Independent Study project?
A: I am working in conjunction with New Leaf Center and Dr. (Olivia) Wenger in a project that investigates potential biomarkers for propionic acidemia (PA) and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in the Amish. I'm using the Q-TOF-MS to measure a very large number metabolites in blood samples from patients in order to identify any markers of disease severity. I'm setting up the protocols, groupings, and procedures so that the project can continue to operate after me in hopes of creating even larger sample sizes and databases for future work. The long-term goal is to better understand the disease process, metabolic pathways, treatment effectiveness, and develop possible molecules to measure to indicate disease changes and severity.
Q: Tell us a bit about something cool you did as a student at The College of Wooster?
A: I had an APEX Fellowship where I was able to work with Dr. (Timothy) Kremchek at Beacon Orthopaedics for eight weeks and scrub into surgeries. I had an incredible hands-on experience. It was one of the most influential experiences I had that continued to inspire me to apply to medical school. In addition, the women's soccer team made it to the NCAA Div. III Championships in consecutive years. We were able to travel to Kentucky and Illinois to compete at the highest level. Those experiences were incredible from both an athletic standpoint and also from a team bonding experience. I will remember those games, team dinners, movies, and bus rides forever.
Q: Reflecting back on your time at Wooster, what is one piece of advice you would give your first-year (freshman) self?
A: I would tell myself to find the joy in every single moment. These four years go by much quicker than you expect, even when time seems to stand still. I would challenge and encourage myself to find happiness in everything I did, even the things I hated or dreaded. That happiness can come from friends, being able to laugh at your struggles, putting yourself out there, and sharing your life with others. I would tell myself to treasure the struggles and the fear, to embrace the newness and un-comfortability, and to be authentically and unapologetically true to myself.
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