Goal Oriented: Grad Ally Swanson Excels on the Field and off
In athletics, in higher education, in the medical field – everywhere the buzzword is “specialization.” In baseball, bullpens are flooded with left-handed specialists and ground-ball specialists; soccer has free-kick specialists and players who specialize in long throw-ins. Academics publish papers on increasingly niche subjects. We see one doctor to diagnose a health issue, but another to treat it.
Amidst all this specialization, someone like recent graduate Ally Swanson is refreshing – someone whose interests and talents cover multiple fields: the soccer field and the medical field, just to name two. Swanson, a former goalkeeper on the women’s soccer team, boasts a formidable resume of her time at George Fox: athlete, RA, aspiring dentist, and recipient of a full-ride scholarship to Oregon Health & Science University’s dental school. Though her achievements are markedly diverse, they share commonality: whatever Swanson does, she seems to do well.
Even so, Swanson will be the first to say that who she is goes far beyond what she does. “The things I do,” said Swanson, “are simply expressions of the strengths, gifts and abilities that [God] has blessed me with. So in everything I do, I hope to bring glory to God in some small way.” Undoubtedly, Swanson has remarkable gifts, particularly as an athlete. In the 2014 season, she started 15 games in goal for the Bruins and allowed only 21 goals against, an average of just 1.50 per game. Swanson also posted three shutouts, and her save percentage was a sterling .857. At the end of the season, she deservedly claimed an all-Northwest Conference second-team spot.