The only grass growing under Jessica Golibart's feet is on the soccer field. This active student-athlete doesn't stand still long enough for much else. Even before she came to UMBC, carrying both an academic and an athletic scholarship, Golibart was ready to be involved. "On my recruiting trip I was here for a game and I got to be in the locker room for the pre-game, and the coach's pre-game speech got me so fired up that I wanted to go play right then, and I was bummed out I had to wait another year," she says.

When she's not on the soccer field, Golibart is involved in the Student Athlete Advisory Council, Women in Learning and Leadership and even mentors at a local school. Her passion outside of athletics is helping others, and she hopes to join the Peace Corps after school. But with the aggressive academic schedule demanded by her double major in social work and psychology, and the demands on the field as the captain of her team, she'll need to stay fit to keep up with the pace of her dreams. "It doesn't matter at the end of four years how many championships you've won if you've made friendships for life," she explains. "And that's definitely what athletes at UMBC do."

Did You Know?
Our student-athletesí commitment to academics is as solid as their passion for the sports they play. In the past two semesters, almost half of UMBCís student-athletes have earned grade-point averages of 3.0 or higher, and UMBCís student-athletes have a 72% graduation rate overall, one of the highest rates in the nation for NCAA Division I schools.