WEBSTER GROVES - Here is this week's Gorlok Alumni Spotlight highlighting Webster Athletics alumni and what they are doing today and how their Webster experience helped them in their life after college.
Today's 17th and fourth Gorlok Alumni Spotlight of the 2021 calendar year showcases Mickey Dennis, who was a four-year lettermen in men's soccer from 2009-13.
During his four years as a Gorlok, Dennis, who is a native of Carbondale, Ill., was a three-time SLIAC Fall All-Academic Team selection and earned Second-Team All-SLIAC honors as a senior in 2012. As a Gorlok, he was a member of two SLIAC Tournament Championship teams in 2009 and 2012, two NCAA Tournament teams in both 2009 and 2012 and the SLIAC regular season title in 2012. Webster posted a 40-28-8 overall record and a 22-7-3 mark in SLIAC play, including a 13-2-1 record in league play in 2009 and 2012 combined.
Dennis, who was a defender for the Gorloks, played in 63 matches and made 39 starts in his career, including playing in a total of 38 matches (19 each season) in 2011 and 2012 and starting 35 of those 38 matches in those two seasons. He scored one goal and recorded two assists for a total of four points. Dennis also took six career shots and put three of those shots on goal and was 1-for-2 on penalty kicks. The Gorloks defense allowed a total of 98 goals from 2009-12 and posted a total of 25 shutouts, including 10 shutouts in 2012, which is tied for fifth on the school's all-time list.
He earned his Bachelor degree in History from Webster in 2013 and earned a Master's degree in Public History from Washington State University in 2015. As an undergraduate at Webster, he carried a 3.75 cumulative grade point average and in graduate school, he carried a 3.9 cumulative grade point average. During his time at Webster, Dennis was a member of the Gorloks' Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. He is currently living in New York City and working as an Account Development Coordinator for JSTOR.
For more information on Mickey and the impact his experience at Webster had on his life, please read the Q&A below.
Q: Name, Sport(s) played at Webster, What years were you a student-athlete?
A: Mickey Dennis, Men's Soccer, 2009-12.
Q: Where are you living now and what are you doing?
A: I'm currently living in New York City working as an Account Development Coordinator for JSTOR. I am also currently in school again for a Digital Humanities advanced certificate after getting my Masters in Public History from Washington State University.
Q: What was your favorite class and favorite professor at Webster?
A: My favorite professor was Dr. Warren Rosenblum in the History department. I'm not sure about a favorite class (hard to remember after so many years!), but his classes were always very engaging and he encouraged a more subjective and interpretative view of history, which was different from the view of history I had in high school. It also prepared me for the type of history I learned in graduate school.
Q: When was the last time you were back on the Webster campus?
A: The last time I was on campus was in December 2018. I was visiting my parents in Carbondale for Christmas. I flew into St. Louis and wanted to show my partner around campus since she had never seen Webster before (she had even thought against going to Webster!). Barely anyone was on campus, but it was neat to see it again and what's changed or stayed the same.
Q: What was your favorite highlight/favorite non-athletic memory from your time at Webster?
A: I don't know if I have a specific, singular memory that stands out. I live in New York City now where two of my best friends from college also live. They majored in theater and sometimes even forgot I played soccer! I'm only kind of kidding that they forgot, but their different experiences were important to the full experience I got out of college. We've obviously gotten older, sometimes wiser, more mature, etc., but the foundations of the current friendship go back to Webster University. So my favorite memories often involve them (and the rest of our group of friends) and playing board games or video games or just hanging out and talking.
Q: What was your favorite athletic highlight/memory from your time at Webster (doesn't have to be your sport)?
A: Easily it was my senior year - winning the SLIAC Conference Tournament and going to the NCAA Tournament. There was a lot of validation for the team as a whole. Of course, I wish we had gone further that year, but as a way to end my career and a success story for that team, that was my favorite.
Q: What's the one thing you know now that you wish you knew while you were a student-athlete?
A: Prioritize good mental health. My playing ability was often dependent on my confidence and I got down on myself a lot, very quickly too, which especially hurt my performances my first two years. My coaches did what they could in helping build my confidence as a player, which I am thankful for, but I didn't take charge as I should have. I had, and still have, anxiety and depression. Leaving untreated during college affected more than just sports. Having a better awareness of mental health and seeing a therapist currently has helped me grow as a person. If I had that in college, I would have been a better athlete, but also a better student and more aware person.
Q: How would you summarize your time as a student-athlete at Webster?
A: In hindsight, very successful. It was hard to always see that at the time and as I age and have grown as a person, I see how that growth could have helped me as a player and teammate. I had some struggles early with playing time and performance level along with some persistent injuries over the four years, but my junior and senior years, in particular, were a lot of fun and the team did extremely well.
Q: What is one thing you learned while a student-athlete that you have applied in everyday life?
A: Balance. Managing your time and emotions between school, athletics, work, friends, yourself, etc., is an underappreciated skill. It took me a while to figure that out since it's so easy to lose track of any one of them, but learning how to balance those things has helped me. Athletes aren't the only ones who have to learn this skill, but I learned it through my participation in athletics and I've only needed to use the skill more and more as I get older.
Q: What advice do you have for current Gorloks about being a student-athlete at Webster?
A: My personal experience is to create friendships and relationships outside of athletics. I loved all my teammates, but Webster has a lot of very dynamic and interesting people that I'm glad I got to know.
Q: What is your greatest accomplishment so far, could be as a student-athlete or in everyday life since college?
A: On a very individualistic level, earning my Masters degree. I moved sight unseen halfway across the country to live on my own and go through a very rigorous curriculum. It was an experience that taught me a lot about myself and I'm proud to have gone through it, even if it was incredibly challenging at times. Generally though, I think, as saccharine as it may be, my greatest accomplishment is the life I'm lucky enough to live right now. There's a lot wrong with the world at the moment, but from my partner to my cats to my friends and family, I'm privileged and lucky to be surrounded by such kind, thoughful, caring, successful, and good people (and cats).
Q: What advice do you have for current Gorlok student-athletes about life after college?
A: Jobs, money, and career are not the most important thing. We played sports at Webster because we loved them and wanted to keep playing. We didn't get scholarships or have the likelihood of a professional sports career. The same thing applies in life. It's about the experience, which, for me, means the people that surround you. Work does not define you as much as our culture wants us to believe it does. I worked for three years at a bookstore and I got my Masters, which isn't a "traditional" path, but those years changed my life for the batter, mostly through the relationships and friendships that I developed there. Find happiness in the people and hobbies you enjoy. If that ends up helping with a career, excellent. If not, that's great too. That's my belief anyway.
