I am excited to introduce you to Jessica Chadwick, a member of our Back-to-Back-to-Back Conference USA Champions Women’s Swimming Program. Jessica came to us from Manchester in the fall of 2012. Since that time, she has dealt with adversity through injury that hindered her performance in the water. Through perseverance and grit, Jess graduated this summer from Florida International University as a Worlds Ahead Graduate. Today, I am humbled to briefly share her story with you.
First! A quick introduction to Jess as well as a little more information about what it means to be a ‘Worlds Ahead Graduate’. Jessica Chadwick is a senior that will graduate this Summer session as a Sport and Fitness studies major. After life at FIU, she plans to go to Physical Therapy school back in the United Kingdom.
FIU Defines their Worlds Ahead Graduates as, “graduates exhibit outstanding perseverance, intelligence and personal strength during their time at FIU, and fully demonstrate and embrace what it means to be Worlds Ahead.”
Worlds Ahead Graduates are nominated by faculty members to be personally honored during their commencement ceremony. Their ingenuity, compassion, intelligence and courage set them apart from their graduating class. We mark them down in FIU history through a news feature and in the Past Worlds Ahead Graduates record. You can learn more about this process here:
https://commencement.fiu.edu/day-of-ceremony/worlds-ahead-graduates/
To give you a quick idea of the adversity Jessica had to fight through during her career at FIU….
August 2013: Suffered a Full body allergic reaction to a jellyfish sting during team training in the Ocean. Due to the reaction caused by the sting and the allergens, she was forced to sit out the entire 2013-2014 season.
November 2014: Ruptured ear drum coming back from Mizzou Invite. Even though she had complications from the rupture, she still was able to fight back and compete in the Conference USA Championships.
Spring 2015: Jessica and teammate Chase Harris rescued two swimmers while on spring break at MacArthur Park. You can read about their incredible story here:
http://fiusports.com/news/2015/3/15/WSWIM_0315155226.aspx
September 2016: Suffered an injury to her ankle which forced her out of the pool and into a walking boot. Tried to rehab for the season, but upon her return to action she tore her Achilles tendon and had surgery in spring 2017. During surgery, she had an allergic reaction to the anesthesia that caused her organs to fail. She ended up in the ICU for an entire week. Once she started rehabbing the Achilles, she tore it again the first week of April.
Throughout all of her setbacks, Jessica embodied the true grit and determination that defines what it means to be a CHAMPION. Thank you so much for stopping your scroll long enough to read about this inspiring student, her challenges, and how she became a WORLDS AHEAD GRADUATE.
Thank you, Jessica, for all you have done for FIU Athletics, the Swim and Dive Program and for our FIU.
To view more about her story, please click the link below
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