Off the Court with Dacia Heckendorf
“We were undefeated until that game, so going in you’re like, ‘Is this what it’s going to be like every year?'” said Dacia, describing her feelings about her freshman season. The Bruins made the championship game that year and although they lost, she was given a full shot of confidence getting some playing time on the biggest stage.
The next year was a contrast to the prosperity Dacia experienced her first time around. “I got hurt my sophomore year and I had knee surgery.” Unfortunately, the Bruins wouldn’t make a return trip to the NCAA tournament that year. Things were looking down at that point.
However, the silver lining would soon be discovered. Going into her sophomore year, she knew that she wanted a career in the medical field but wasn’t sure what she specifically wanted to do. “After going to physical therapy for my knee, I discovered that it was something that I really wanted to do.”
Originally a chemistry major, Dacia switched to biology in order to become a physical therapist, a career objective she realized after experiencing firsthand how interesting physical therapy was during her injury rehabilitation. “I love helping people and I really like being with people who are at a state where they don’t think they can get any better. You get to help them; it’s such a cool job to help them get back.”
As Dacia returned from injury her junior year, she had to get back into the routine of balancing basketball and school. Even though she now knew her career objective, the struggle to balance athletics and academics was still a challenge. “Playing basketball and being a biology major is not easy,” she noted.
Dacia had one particular faculty member to thank for making her life as a student-athlete much easier. “My professor, Dwight Kimberly, made it so he would meet with me if I needed it. My team actually had basketball practice during lab time one semester so if I needed to leave or if I just needed to meet with him throughout the week, he would. He also got to know me as a person and one time asked me, ‘What do you want to be?’ When I told him, he said ‘We’re going to make that happen. That’s why you’re here.’ It was cool to know that teachers here really want you to not only grow in your education but also get to know you as a person.”
So despite the setbacks, Dacia will graduate this spring with a B.S. in biology/exercise science. The uncertainty of her future career was once bleak, but due to her perseverance during trying times as well as help from understanding professors like Kimberly, Dacia’s goals are within sight.
The knee is much less of an issue now, too. As for the current basketball season, Dacia leads the undefeated Bruins in 3-point field goal percentage (minimum 2 attempts per game) at 40%, and is top 5 in the rebounds, assists and steals categories.
Make sure to watch Dacia and the Bruins (13-0) take on their two conference foes, Whitman (8-5) on Friday and Whitworth (13-0) on Saturday at Miller Gymnasium.
