Lehigh University Athletics
Taking Risks and Breaking Away from the “Typical”
2/27/2020 6:37:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse, Student Athlete, Features, Intellectual Development
By: Justin Lafleur, Lehigh Sports Communications
Senior Megan Gibbons of the Lehigh women's lacrosse team is willing to take risks.
Off the field, Gibbons took a risk last summer by interning at AECOM (which is described on its website as "the world's most premier infrastructure firm"). Then during the 2019-20 school year, Gibbons took another risk by shifting her role from student-athlete to undergraduate assistant.
Both decisions are paying off.
"I believe I'm someone who's willing to take risks in different directions," said Gibbons.
When you think about directions, you often think about driving. Speaking of driving, Gibbons' summer internship focused on roadways… literally.
Megan's life "road" (journey) took its first detour over the summer when she accepted a civil engineering internship at AECOM, working in the water resources department. An environmental engineering major, Gibbons saw a chance to better herself and ran with the opportunity.
"Civil and environmental engineering are similar, except civil engineering is more buildings and structures while environmental engineering is more remediation of an area," said Gibbons. "I'm a very go-with-the flow type of person, so I inquired about an internship and I didn't care what it was."
Gibbons' internship consisted of working in Conshohocken and living with teammate (and classmate) Sondra Dickey at her family's home.
At AECOM, Gibbons worked on a road project in the Lehigh Valley.
"We mapped out where the roads are now, then figured out all the drainage areas and how the water flows through the area," she said. "We drew maps of proposed plans and made sure the water that was flowing beforehand wouldn't change too much or flood anything.
"More specifically, I worked on all the preliminary designs, the calculations of predicting the water and where it would all go," Gibbons continued. "There's a 30 percent stage, a 60 percent stage and a 90 percent stage of a project. I worked on the 30 percent stage."
Gibbons' summer went so well that she actually continued to work on the project this past winter break.
"I went home to Pittsburgh for a week and sat in their Pittsburgh office," she said. "They accommodated me wanting to go home for the holidays, which was really nice of them. After Christmas and the New Year, I headed back to the Conshohocken office for two weeks and finished the work there."
Following her summer internship, Gibbons returned to Lehigh, not only eager for her senior year but also ready for the women's lacrosse season and open-minded on ways she could help.
Conversations with the coaching staff eventually led to the mutual decision for Gibbons to transition into being an undergraduate assistant.
"Assistant coach Sammy Cermack said she had someone like this on her Johns Hopkins team," said Gibbons. "That girl had so much respect because she learned about everybody else's roles. She had time to learn about every position group, so she ended up influencing a larger portion of the team."
"Megan's switch to her current role has been terrific for everyone," said Lehigh head coach Jill Redfern. "We hope to experiment with even more in-game technology this season and she will be instrumental in this effort."
Gibbons' role is at the intersection of supporting both the student-athletes and coaches. Some of her many duties include managing GPS trackers and managing work study students.
Through the fall and first month of the spring season, Gibbons is loving her role.
"Assistant coach Katie O'Donnell and I work together on a lot of projects," she said. "I stood by the coaches during games this fall, and so far in the spring."
There has been a clear separator between Gibbons' role and the role of student managers. In fact, Gibbons is helping oversee the team's managers.
It's experience working with and leading people that will only help in her post-graduate career.
"I give the managers tasks during practices. I taught them the rules, how to work the clock and take stats during practice," said Gibbons. "I handle the communication with them – when they're coming, when they're not – and I let the coaches know. It takes a little bit off them."
In her new role, Gibbons is not only helping everyone around her (specifically the student-athletes and coaches), but she's also helping herself because she has found a rewarding role as a difference maker.
"I'm definitely a people person," she said. "I believe being adaptable in moving through all these roles will help me in the future."
Gibbons hopes she can be an example for student-athletes to know they can make a difference in so many ways, even if it's not on the field come game day.
"Megan is a high-energy, high-achieving individual who can solve problems on the fly," said Redfern. "She's still exactly the person we recruited and is delivering on her commitment to our program and Lehigh. She models that contribution in ways other than game day minutes, and that is respected here."
Despite not physically having a stick in her hand, Gibbons remains as competitive as ever.
"I want to win just as badly as before," said Gibbons. "We have such an amazing group of people and there's so much talent. Our culture is so positive and we're just growing so much as a team."
Gibbons has always been a relationship builder. Her willingness to take risks, and not be afraid to break away from the "typical" is a mindset that has served her well in the present – and will serve her well in the future.
"I was a line attacker and switched to line defense the day I arrived to Lehigh," she said. "I did a complete 180. Ever since the start, I learned how to make the best out of every situation and find the good parts of everything. Almost everything in life will have some tough times or struggles, but finding even the smallest aspects that are positive, and really focusing on that, makes it so much more enjoyable.
"When there are some good things, you can focus on those and make them great."
Megan Gibbons is living proof.
Senior Megan Gibbons of the Lehigh women's lacrosse team is willing to take risks.
Off the field, Gibbons took a risk last summer by interning at AECOM (which is described on its website as "the world's most premier infrastructure firm"). Then during the 2019-20 school year, Gibbons took another risk by shifting her role from student-athlete to undergraduate assistant.
Both decisions are paying off.
"I believe I'm someone who's willing to take risks in different directions," said Gibbons.
When you think about directions, you often think about driving. Speaking of driving, Gibbons' summer internship focused on roadways… literally.
Megan's life "road" (journey) took its first detour over the summer when she accepted a civil engineering internship at AECOM, working in the water resources department. An environmental engineering major, Gibbons saw a chance to better herself and ran with the opportunity.
"Civil and environmental engineering are similar, except civil engineering is more buildings and structures while environmental engineering is more remediation of an area," said Gibbons. "I'm a very go-with-the flow type of person, so I inquired about an internship and I didn't care what it was."
Gibbons' internship consisted of working in Conshohocken and living with teammate (and classmate) Sondra Dickey at her family's home.
At AECOM, Gibbons worked on a road project in the Lehigh Valley.
"We mapped out where the roads are now, then figured out all the drainage areas and how the water flows through the area," she said. "We drew maps of proposed plans and made sure the water that was flowing beforehand wouldn't change too much or flood anything.
"More specifically, I worked on all the preliminary designs, the calculations of predicting the water and where it would all go," Gibbons continued. "There's a 30 percent stage, a 60 percent stage and a 90 percent stage of a project. I worked on the 30 percent stage."
Gibbons' summer went so well that she actually continued to work on the project this past winter break.
"I went home to Pittsburgh for a week and sat in their Pittsburgh office," she said. "They accommodated me wanting to go home for the holidays, which was really nice of them. After Christmas and the New Year, I headed back to the Conshohocken office for two weeks and finished the work there."
Following her summer internship, Gibbons returned to Lehigh, not only eager for her senior year but also ready for the women's lacrosse season and open-minded on ways she could help.
Conversations with the coaching staff eventually led to the mutual decision for Gibbons to transition into being an undergraduate assistant.
"Assistant coach Sammy Cermack said she had someone like this on her Johns Hopkins team," said Gibbons. "That girl had so much respect because she learned about everybody else's roles. She had time to learn about every position group, so she ended up influencing a larger portion of the team."
"Megan's switch to her current role has been terrific for everyone," said Lehigh head coach Jill Redfern. "We hope to experiment with even more in-game technology this season and she will be instrumental in this effort."
Gibbons' role is at the intersection of supporting both the student-athletes and coaches. Some of her many duties include managing GPS trackers and managing work study students.
Through the fall and first month of the spring season, Gibbons is loving her role.
"Assistant coach Katie O'Donnell and I work together on a lot of projects," she said. "I stood by the coaches during games this fall, and so far in the spring."
There has been a clear separator between Gibbons' role and the role of student managers. In fact, Gibbons is helping oversee the team's managers.
It's experience working with and leading people that will only help in her post-graduate career.
"I give the managers tasks during practices. I taught them the rules, how to work the clock and take stats during practice," said Gibbons. "I handle the communication with them – when they're coming, when they're not – and I let the coaches know. It takes a little bit off them."
In her new role, Gibbons is not only helping everyone around her (specifically the student-athletes and coaches), but she's also helping herself because she has found a rewarding role as a difference maker.
"I'm definitely a people person," she said. "I believe being adaptable in moving through all these roles will help me in the future."
Gibbons hopes she can be an example for student-athletes to know they can make a difference in so many ways, even if it's not on the field come game day.
"Megan is a high-energy, high-achieving individual who can solve problems on the fly," said Redfern. "She's still exactly the person we recruited and is delivering on her commitment to our program and Lehigh. She models that contribution in ways other than game day minutes, and that is respected here."
Despite not physically having a stick in her hand, Gibbons remains as competitive as ever.
"I want to win just as badly as before," said Gibbons. "We have such an amazing group of people and there's so much talent. Our culture is so positive and we're just growing so much as a team."
Gibbons has always been a relationship builder. Her willingness to take risks, and not be afraid to break away from the "typical" is a mindset that has served her well in the present – and will serve her well in the future.
"I was a line attacker and switched to line defense the day I arrived to Lehigh," she said. "I did a complete 180. Ever since the start, I learned how to make the best out of every situation and find the good parts of everything. Almost everything in life will have some tough times or struggles, but finding even the smallest aspects that are positive, and really focusing on that, makes it so much more enjoyable.
"When there are some good things, you can focus on those and make them great."
Megan Gibbons is living proof.
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