The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebel Soccer Graduate Tackles Teaching
5/16/2008 | Soccer
By Whitney Tarpy
Ole Miss Athletics Media Relations
Cori Mehan is used to early mornings. She’s also grown accustomed to full days and long nights.
Being a student-athlete is no easy task. Serving as a team captain on the soccer field and maintaining nearly a 4.0 GPA through four years in the classroom is downright remarkable.
Mehan’s future holds many of the same requirements as her four years at Ole Miss. However, instead of being a student in the classroom, she’s going to be the teacher. Those early mornings might not consist or lifting weights or running, but preparing work for the school day.
Earlier this year, Mehan was chosen as one of two students from Ole Miss to participate in the prestigious Teach for
“I’m very excited,” said Mehan. “I know I’m going to be challenged, so I hope I do OK.”
Teach for
“They think the main problem for the education gap is that the teachers expect less from students from lower-income communities,” Mehan said. “They want these students to qualify with higher test scores and raise expectations.”
Teach for
But if anyone was qualified, it was Mehan. In addition to her success on the soccer field, her hard work in the classroom has resulted in her induction into the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor society. She is a four-time SEC Academic Honor Roll member and was named to the fall 2007 edition of Who’s Who Among Students in
After making it through the various stages of application, the senior with a 3.84 GPA had to miss a day of soccer practice for an interview. Later that day, she learned that she was accepted.
With 26 rural and urban areas for students to choose from, the applicants rank their top 10. Mehan said that she put down big cities like Indianapolis, Chicago and St. Louis first.
“I was born in
Mehan, who is also a two-time member of the SEC Soccer Community Service team, will travel to
“I think it will be hard, but because of soccer, where I would have to get up early to lift weights or run, I’m used to that kind of intensity,” Mehan said. “Preseason is physically demanding, and this will be mentally and maybe physically demanding because I will have to be up all the time, and I will have to stay awake.”
The demands of playing on the Ole Miss soccer team put Mehan at an advantage for this job.
“Hard work is what I know how to do,” said the 5-foot-3 midfielder who drew 37 starts in her 74 career games played. “I may not be the smartest person and I may not be the best person for this job, but through soccer, I learned how to be a hard worker. I wasn’t the best player on the soccer team, but I learned that everyday you have to work, no matter what.”
Voted as this past season’s team captain, Mehan knows that the leadership she provided for the team will provide great experience when becoming the leader in the classroom.
“I wasn’t the most vocal leader, but you have to take that experience and lead by example because those people rely on you, and coaches come to you,” said Mehan. “People expect more from you as a captain.”
Mehan will also be able to use the experience from working numerous camps for kids into her role as teacher. Since the eighth grade, she has been actively involved in her church camps as well as working soccer camps at
Mehan knows that she will miss playing soccer at Ole Miss, but she is also eager for another opportunity to help people in need.
“Soccer changed my life,” said Mehan, “but this is another step up, and this is another life-changing thing. We will see what happens.”
If her teaching career is anything like her time in college, Mehan will be a huge success.
