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TORRANCE, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Two more student-athletes who connected with We Are G.A.M.E. (Getting Athletes Mentoring and Education) have put what they learned to work. Now, their G.A.M.E. foundation has propelled them into success as they graduate with not just significant degrees, but also jobs.
Dakota Jones, a basketball player and graduate of West High School in Torrance, California, recently completed her master’s degree in public health at New York University with a GPA of 3.75 and a job offer. Alyssa Charles, a softball player who attended Stockdale High School in Bakersfield, California, graduated from Menlo College in northern California with an accounting degree, a 3.96 GPA, no student loan debt, and a job. Clearly, We Are G.A.M.E. emphasized the student portion of student-athlete for these two young women, setting them on a path toward success.
Charles says that Joyce and Allen Thigpen of We Are G.A.M.E. played a critical role in helping her explore her college options, looking at everything from pros and cons to pricing. “We Are G.A.M.E. really helped my college career,” she explains. And it paid, quite literally. Charles, part of the first generation in her family to graduate college, personally paid off her student loans during college. She graduates with no student debt thanks to jobs she held while pursuing her degree.
Charles’s We Are G.A.M.E. involvement also helped her chart her post-college course. Allen Thigpen connected her to mentors in the accounting world. As a result, she was able to shop her options and is confidently headed in the direction of audit accounting as she grows her career. After completing two summer internships with KPMG International, one of the Big Four accounting organizations, she’s joining their team full-time.
During her time at Menlo College, Charles was on the dean’s list all four years. She was also:
* The manager of her softball team
* On the weightlifting team
* President of the Latinx club
* Secretary of the accounting club
* A resident assistant (RA)
* A member of the Alpha Chi and Beta Gamma Sigma honor societies
Jones had a similarly illustrious post-high school career. At Lesley University in the Boston area, where she earned her psychology degree, she was a three-year captain with two all-honors conference nominations. Not only did she finish her basketball career there with over 1,000 points, but she also set the university’s single-game record with 25 rebounds.
It wasn’t all basketball for Jones. She graduated with four semesters on the dean’s list and secured an internship at Harvard University, where she was a research assistant in a social psychology lab. That led her to her current path. Not only did Jones complete her master’s degree in public health with a concentration in social and behavioral sciences, but she also landed a job. Jones has accepted a position as a research grant specialist for the Georgetown University Medical Center.
These two women applied what they learned at We Are G.A.M.E. to not just support their sports careers after high school, but to chart their course into meaningful careers as adults, too. Both graduate with notable degrees headed straight into positions that fit their skills and interests.
About We Are G.A.M.E.:
We are G.A.M.E., Inc. is made up of a T.E.A.M. (Those Empowering Athletes by Mentoring) of community members strongly committed to empowering student-athletes with the tools and skills needed to successfully tackle the world of college athletics. The T.E.A.M. serves a population of students in need of support, advice, and, most of all, life guidance.
By identifying student-athletes in the ninth grade or earlier, the nonprofit aims to positively influence their lives. The mentors at We Are G.A.M.E. want to see young athletes develop to their fullest athletic potential but ensure that the students also focus on education. The mentors work with students and their parents to create a game plan to pursue academic excellence as well as athletic success.
Learn more at https://www.wearegame.org/
More info on Alyssa Charles:
More info on Dakota Jones:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SAGamePlan
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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/WeAreGAMEinc
Learn More: https://www.wearegame.org/
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