Student Athlete Eleanor Marshall shows off her soccer ball in JCCC gym.

(Photo by: Khadeeja Saleem)

Eleanor Marshall got a notification on her phone that a lab assignment was due at the end of class. The only problem? She was at the gym. She did what she thought was best.  

She ran and was over an hour late for a three-hour lab. 

That moment stuck with Samantha Baker, Assistant Professor at JCCC, who later described the decision to run to class as the reason she recommended her for Meet a Cavalier Monday. 

“On the first day of class, she runs in an hour late–like, sprints through the door face completely red,” Baker said. “She’s out of breath, and instead of skipping, she ran over and took accountability immediately.” 

Marshall remembered not wanting to start the semester that way. 

“I was not going to start with a zero,” Marshall said. 

Professor Baker went on to say that Marshall showed immediate ownership, and that was outstanding from her perspective. 

“She took accountability,” Baker said. 

Accountability and hard work have defined Marshall’s time as a student-athlete at JCCC. 

In the middle of her second season with the Cavaliers, Marshall is not a team captain. But Jim Schwab, head coach of the Cavaliers women’s soccer team, describes her as a leader. 

“[She’s a] very good leader, [a] quiet leader,” Schwab said. “She is a leader by example.”

Marshall does not consider herself a leader, but she does think she leads by example. Leading by example came from playing team sports, including softball, volleyball and soccer. 

“I’ve been on a team almost my entire life,” Marshall said. “Even in a lab class where you’re working with three other people, that’s still a team.”

As a freshman, Marshall proved to the sophomores on the team that she could work hard to earn her spot. 

“I knew coming in, I had to earn my starting spot,” Marshall said. “Other girls were competing, so you compete every day.”

Marshall’s goal is to be a teacher after she graduates. Her interest in teaching started as a freshman when she took an introductory education class. A mock teaching lesson in front of the class almost made her quit.  

“When he told us we would have to teach in front of the class, I was like, ‘I want to drop this class, I don’t want to do this,’” Marshall said. 

She wanted to be in education, so she knew she needed to show some determination and get through the class. 

“If this is something I really want to do, I need to stick through this, and I need to take this class,” Marshall said.

And she is glad she did, because the class showed her exactly what she wanted to do after graduating from college. 

“I ended up sticking through the class, and I loved it,” Marshall said. 

Marshall plans to transfer to Fort Hays State University, play soccer and study education after completing her time at JCCC. 

Above all, she will continue to set an example for teammates and classmates by balancing practice and classes as a student-athlete. 

“I just show up and play,” Marshall said.