Rutgers-Newark Athletics

By Jim Hague

Megan Elliott is a member of the women’s soccer program at Rutgers-Newark and has junior eligibility at the school after transferring to R-N from the College of Misericordia in Pennsylvania two years ago.

However, nothing is going to stop Elliott from collecting her degree in criminal justice from R-N this summer, a year earlier than planned.

“It was one of my goals to finish early,” said Elliott, a native of picturesque Point Pleasant Borough on the Jersey Shore. “All I need is to take two summer classes and I’m done.”

However, the means to which Elliott is receiving her diploma a year early certainly raises eyebrows.

In the fall, while serving as a starting midfielder for the Scarlet Raiders’ soccer program, Elliott carried a total of 19 credits – an almost staggering total for an athlete in-season.

“I guess I handled it pretty well,” Elliott said, almost sheepishly.

It’s safe to say she did more than just “pretty well,” as Elliott carried a 4.0 grade point average through the semester.

Elliott was able to get such impressive grades despite contracting a case of mononucleosis right at the end of the soccer season.

For the second semester’s course load, Elliott went a step further, carrying an unfathomable 23 credits, including an internship every Friday for a law firm located in New York.

“It hasn’t been easy,” Elliott said. “I guess it’s been manageable. I have both day and night classes. I knew it was going to be tough. It’s a big semester for me. I figured after the first semester that I could handle it. But the social scene had to take a back seat.”

Taking 23 credits in one semester? It’s a wonder that Elliott had time to do anything else.
Elliott decided to get her undergraduate schooling finished as quickly as possible. She transferred to R-N from Misericordia because she wanted to study criminal justice after majoring in occupational therapy at the small Pennsylvania school.

“Rutgers-Newark has a great criminal justice program, one of the best in the country,” Elliott said. “After studying occupational therapy, I just knew that it wasn’t the route I wanted to take.”

Elliott, who played varsity soccer for three years at Point Pleasant Borough High School and earned the MVP award there, played soccer at Misericordia and led the team to the NCAA Division III tournament as a freshman.

But she packed up and headed to Newark after one year in beautiful Dallas, Pa.

“It was a great learning experience for me to come to Newark,” Elliott said. “It was very different than what I was used to, going from Point Pleasant to a cow town to Newark. But it was a good experience for me. I definitely made a lot of good friends.”

As a sophomore, Elliott played in 13 of the 19 matches that the Scarlet Raiders played that season. Last fall, in her junior year, Elliott collected four goals and four assists, good for 12 points, tied for fifth on the team.

“Although it was a really tough year for us as a team, I tried to use soccer as an outlet,” Elliott said. “I tried to have fun.”

Elliott did exactly that with the Scarlet Raiders’ women’s soccer program.

“There are a lot of good people here,” Elliott said. “My teammates are awesome. Coming here was a change of life for me. It was definitely different than if I would have stayed in Dallas, Pa.”

Elliott said that she had mixed emotions about graduating a year early.

“I’m definitely going to miss my teammates and definitely going to miss soccer,” Elliott said. “I’m going to miss being competitive and getting out there playing. But it definitely wasn’t worth waiting another year to graduate. I had to get it done now. It was time to move on.”

And with that came the incredibly demanding class schedule.

“My parents were definitely happy with everything,” Elliott said. “They were very supportive in me graduating early. All of my classes this semester were pretty challenging. I’m just glad I was able to get my assignments done. At certain points during the semester, I wondered why I did it, but I then remembered that I chose to do it.”

And when the smoke cleared, Elliott had an incredible cumulative grade point average of 3.97 at Rutgers-Newark. She will graduate with high honors when the time comes to get the well-deserved piece of sheepskin.

Elliott hopes to get into graduate school in the fall (how can any school reject her application?) and work towards her Master’s in business administration, preferably at a Washington area grad school.

When the time comes, Elliott would like to pursue a career in federal law enforcement, like the FBI or the DEA.

“That’s my plan,” Elliott said.

Is there anyone alive who would doubt her? She’s collected more credits in one calendar year than most college student attain in two.

“Once I put my mind to it, I guess I just kind of expected it,” Elliott said. “I have no regrets. I’m happy with the way it all turned out.”

And with that, Megan Elliott became a shining star for other Rutgers-Newark student/athletes to follow.