Nothing stands in Kelly’s way
12/26/2017 10:15:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse, Student Athlete, Features
By: Justin Lafleur, Lehigh Sports Communications
As a female engineering major, women's lacrosse senior Kayleen Kelly defies "the norm" in the pursuit of a degree within a male dominated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) field.
Owning a 3.86 cumulative GPA, all while excelling on the lacrosse field, Kelly exemplifies the ideal that passion motivates success and nothing should stand in the way of pursuing what you love.
"I fell in love with the game of lacrosse between middle and high school, and wanted to pursue it in college," said Kelly. "I'm from Maryland and was on a club team where all but two people went to college to play lacrosse. It was something I always thought I would do, and in addition to my love for the game, there were no other boundaries keeping me from doing it."
Kelly didn't run into boundaries in the classroom, either, and her interest of engineering came to the forefront. That isn't always the case for young females who may feel deterred from entering a male-dominated field, like engineering.
Today, Kelly is working hard to ensure other girls and young women have the same opportunities as her. One way she's helped eliminate boundaries is by working with local Bethlehem youth through the YWCA's STEM program, TechGYRLS.
"It was an eight-week program this fall semester where I went to Donegan Elementary School to teach and mentor fourth and fifth grader girls through a STEM curriculum," said Kelly. "I went there twice a week and worked with them on small coding projects. It was an awesome opportunity to get involved within the Bethlehem community and influence girls who may not know what they want to do when they're older.
"We used an interactive, kid-friendly coding program called Scratch," she continued. "There's an easy-to-use interface where the girls developed script that made characters on a display screen complete movements and actions. What's great about Scratch is that it gives kids the freedom to be creative, to learn general coding concepts and have fun doing it. Many of the underlying concepts in Scratch are consistent with those in real coding languages (Java, C, C++), which makes learning the program valuable and fun."
The STEM opportunity saw many aspects of Kelly's life come together.
"I love kids and really just wanted to help," said Kelly. "Loving and serving the community is in my heart, because of Christ's love for me. It is the reason, in addition to my love of learning and desire to encourage others to pursue their passions, that I took the job as an instructor for the TechGYRLS program."
No matter one's interests, whether it's science, technology or something totally different, Kelly's core message was to find something you're passionate about and pursue it. Don't be afraid to pursue your goals, no matter the boundaries that may be in the way.
Kelly is the perfect example. Her goals, which she's currently in the process of realizing, began at a young age.
"My brother was a bioengineering major, which introduced me to engineering," she said. "My aunt was also a chemical engineering major, and I really enjoyed science and math in high school."
Like her brother, Kelly began her Lehigh career in bioengineering, but moved into industrial and systems engineering major - a more holistic, big-picture, approach to engineering potentially allowing for more opportunities post-graduation.
"I ultimately want to use industrial and systems engineering to improve health care," she said. "I could go into the more management side of things as opposed to the nitty gritty research side of engineering."
Kelly has a passion for engineering, but she also has a passion for lacrosse, which helped lead her to a prestigious school like Lehigh University. The decision to attend Lehigh has paid dividends.
"In today's ultra-competitive world of Division I women's lacrosse, it is exceptionally rare to both allow and foster an engineering degree for women," said head coach Jill Redfern. "Kay has grown up in so many ways during her years at Lehigh. She has stayed true to her core values and is reaping the rewards of that commitment. Our staff is equally proud of her lacrosse, academic and personal growth."
"The fact that I could pursue engineering and play lacrosse drew me to Lehigh because a lot of schools don't let you do both," said Kelly. "Lehigh has been super flexible in that way. I've been fortunate that if I have a class conflict with practice, the coaches have been really understanding about letting me make stuff up or do extra reps with them. They have allowed me to be flexible in my schedule, so I can pursue the degree.
"It's also nice to have a community of student-athletes around you who are pursuing the same challenging degree as you. At a different school where engineering isn't as prevalent, you wouldn't have as many student-athletes supporting you in the same areas that you're pursuing."
On the field, Kelly immediately contributed for the Mountain Hawks, starting 13 games as a freshman. She played in all 18 games during her sophomore and junior campaigns, tallying a combined 70 draw controls, 31 groundballs and 34 caused turnovers in that stretch.
"Freshman year, you come in and have to prove yourself to the team," said Kelly. "You have a lot of pressure in that way, but then as you become an upperclassman, the pressure shifts from proving yourself to being relied upon. I try to do my best on the field so my teammates and coaches can rely on me to be a consistent player and positive influence."
While Kelly has been a key contributor on the field, she has also excelled in the classroom, earning Academic All-Patriot League honors last season. Whether it's on the field, in the classroom or in the working world, Kelly's mindset is the same.
"I've always been taught that outcomes or results do not define who I am. The most important goal for me has always been to do my best. I'm thankful that striving for this type of personal excellence has brought me the success that it has," said Kelly.
Kelly's mindset has put her in a strong position to receive a presidential scholarship. Any students with a 3.75 or higher cumulative GPA when they graduate receive a fifth year for free, and with Kelly's GPA well over 3.8, it's something she's seriously considering.
"I've thought about going into the health care systems master's program at Lehigh for my fifth year," said Kelly. "Another option is looking for a job, potentially data analytics in health care."
No matter Kelly's post-graduate path, she is set up for success because of her drive to succeed in whatever she does.
Kelly is a role model for youngsters to find the areas and subjects they're passionate about, and pursue them. She doesn't let any boundaries stand in the way of her goals.
"I am an example of a female student-athlete who has majored in a STEM field and has found passion and joy," said Kelly. "Hopefully, the girls I worked with this semester, and others, realize they can do it too.
"If you're passionate about science, you can pursue it. If you're passionate about math, you can pursue it.
"No boundary should stop you from going after your interests and pursing your goals."
As a female engineering major, women's lacrosse senior Kayleen Kelly defies "the norm" in the pursuit of a degree within a male dominated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) field.
Owning a 3.86 cumulative GPA, all while excelling on the lacrosse field, Kelly exemplifies the ideal that passion motivates success and nothing should stand in the way of pursuing what you love.
"I fell in love with the game of lacrosse between middle and high school, and wanted to pursue it in college," said Kelly. "I'm from Maryland and was on a club team where all but two people went to college to play lacrosse. It was something I always thought I would do, and in addition to my love for the game, there were no other boundaries keeping me from doing it."
Kelly didn't run into boundaries in the classroom, either, and her interest of engineering came to the forefront. That isn't always the case for young females who may feel deterred from entering a male-dominated field, like engineering.
Today, Kelly is working hard to ensure other girls and young women have the same opportunities as her. One way she's helped eliminate boundaries is by working with local Bethlehem youth through the YWCA's STEM program, TechGYRLS.
"It was an eight-week program this fall semester where I went to Donegan Elementary School to teach and mentor fourth and fifth grader girls through a STEM curriculum," said Kelly. "I went there twice a week and worked with them on small coding projects. It was an awesome opportunity to get involved within the Bethlehem community and influence girls who may not know what they want to do when they're older.
"We used an interactive, kid-friendly coding program called Scratch," she continued. "There's an easy-to-use interface where the girls developed script that made characters on a display screen complete movements and actions. What's great about Scratch is that it gives kids the freedom to be creative, to learn general coding concepts and have fun doing it. Many of the underlying concepts in Scratch are consistent with those in real coding languages (Java, C, C++), which makes learning the program valuable and fun."
The STEM opportunity saw many aspects of Kelly's life come together.
"I love kids and really just wanted to help," said Kelly. "Loving and serving the community is in my heart, because of Christ's love for me. It is the reason, in addition to my love of learning and desire to encourage others to pursue their passions, that I took the job as an instructor for the TechGYRLS program."
No matter one's interests, whether it's science, technology or something totally different, Kelly's core message was to find something you're passionate about and pursue it. Don't be afraid to pursue your goals, no matter the boundaries that may be in the way.
Kelly is the perfect example. Her goals, which she's currently in the process of realizing, began at a young age.
"My brother was a bioengineering major, which introduced me to engineering," she said. "My aunt was also a chemical engineering major, and I really enjoyed science and math in high school."
Like her brother, Kelly began her Lehigh career in bioengineering, but moved into industrial and systems engineering major - a more holistic, big-picture, approach to engineering potentially allowing for more opportunities post-graduation.
"I ultimately want to use industrial and systems engineering to improve health care," she said. "I could go into the more management side of things as opposed to the nitty gritty research side of engineering."
Kelly has a passion for engineering, but she also has a passion for lacrosse, which helped lead her to a prestigious school like Lehigh University. The decision to attend Lehigh has paid dividends.
"In today's ultra-competitive world of Division I women's lacrosse, it is exceptionally rare to both allow and foster an engineering degree for women," said head coach Jill Redfern. "Kay has grown up in so many ways during her years at Lehigh. She has stayed true to her core values and is reaping the rewards of that commitment. Our staff is equally proud of her lacrosse, academic and personal growth."
"The fact that I could pursue engineering and play lacrosse drew me to Lehigh because a lot of schools don't let you do both," said Kelly. "Lehigh has been super flexible in that way. I've been fortunate that if I have a class conflict with practice, the coaches have been really understanding about letting me make stuff up or do extra reps with them. They have allowed me to be flexible in my schedule, so I can pursue the degree.
"It's also nice to have a community of student-athletes around you who are pursuing the same challenging degree as you. At a different school where engineering isn't as prevalent, you wouldn't have as many student-athletes supporting you in the same areas that you're pursuing."
On the field, Kelly immediately contributed for the Mountain Hawks, starting 13 games as a freshman. She played in all 18 games during her sophomore and junior campaigns, tallying a combined 70 draw controls, 31 groundballs and 34 caused turnovers in that stretch.
"Freshman year, you come in and have to prove yourself to the team," said Kelly. "You have a lot of pressure in that way, but then as you become an upperclassman, the pressure shifts from proving yourself to being relied upon. I try to do my best on the field so my teammates and coaches can rely on me to be a consistent player and positive influence."
While Kelly has been a key contributor on the field, she has also excelled in the classroom, earning Academic All-Patriot League honors last season. Whether it's on the field, in the classroom or in the working world, Kelly's mindset is the same.
"I've always been taught that outcomes or results do not define who I am. The most important goal for me has always been to do my best. I'm thankful that striving for this type of personal excellence has brought me the success that it has," said Kelly.
Kelly's mindset has put her in a strong position to receive a presidential scholarship. Any students with a 3.75 or higher cumulative GPA when they graduate receive a fifth year for free, and with Kelly's GPA well over 3.8, it's something she's seriously considering.
"I've thought about going into the health care systems master's program at Lehigh for my fifth year," said Kelly. "Another option is looking for a job, potentially data analytics in health care."
No matter Kelly's post-graduate path, she is set up for success because of her drive to succeed in whatever she does.
Kelly is a role model for youngsters to find the areas and subjects they're passionate about, and pursue them. She doesn't let any boundaries stand in the way of her goals.
"I am an example of a female student-athlete who has majored in a STEM field and has found passion and joy," said Kelly. "Hopefully, the girls I worked with this semester, and others, realize they can do it too.
"If you're passionate about science, you can pursue it. If you're passionate about math, you can pursue it.
"No boundary should stop you from going after your interests and pursing your goals."
Players Mentioned
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