Featured Senior: Gena Main

What was your most memorable moment throughout your career at Willamette?

My most memorable moment was when Aoi scored a goal in our double-overtime win versus Lewis and Clark. I was standing in the box, and we were all trying desperately to get the ball in the net. I saw her get the ball and hit it, and watched it go in. All I remember from then on was screaming her name and running and giving her the biggest hug. The smile on her face has stayed with me, and I will never forget how much joy we were all filled with in that moment.

Describe your feelings when you found out the athletic events were cancelled for the remainder of the year?

I found out that spring athletics were canceled when a friend texted me just after receiving the email. It was tough because we had also just found out that classes were all moving online, so bing a senior, I was already filled with emotions, realizing that there were many people, friends, classmates, and professors that I would likely never see again. When I got her text all I could think about is how absolutely crushed I would have been if that had been my senior season.

When I came home a few hours later, I found my roommate and close friend, Kristen Barclay, just sitting in our living room. She was the first spring athlete who I physically talked to, and it was absolutely heartbreaking to see how much sadness she was filled with and how confused she was that this was actually happening. While I can only imagine how crushed spring athletes were, my brain was immediately spinning with lots of emotions. It's an awful situation, to say the least, but it's even tougher because no one can do anything about it.

Losing your senior season, is more than just not being able to play the sport you love for the next few months. It's losing countless memories, hours spent with your teammates, time spent with the trainers (good or bad). It's losing something that you've likely spent more than half of your life preparing for, and often losing something that has a consistency in your life no matter what craziness is going on. Nobody is ready for their senior game. It is a date everyone dreads. So having it all suddenly be done, there is really no way to describe it other than absolutely devastating. My heart goes out to all spring athletes but especially to all of the seniors who weren't ready, and shouldn't have had to say goodbye.

How have you been handling life in quarantine? Are you home or on campus? What's it like learning online and not being around your teammates?

I have been extremely lucky with my life in quarantine so far. I made the decision to stay in Salem. Staying here has allowed me to pretend that my senior year isn't really over. I live in a house near campus with six other roommates, three of which are teammates, and the other three I consider to be best friends. All of us are athletes.

We have been working to maintain structure, through a combination of doing schoolwork, our own for-fun projects, and spending time all together playing games or drawing. I think that the single reason I am okay right now is being surrounded by my close friends. We were joking all together in the kitchen the other day about how we keep forgetting that we're done, that will will never have college classes again. Whenever we start to talk about it, we will usually cry. It comes up that we never knew that it was our last. We never knew that anything was our last, our last library study session, bistro trip, M/W class, class outing, Goudy trip, homework by the Mill Stream, late night walks to and from the library, Sparks workouts, team pickup games, locker room dance sessions, various team traditions, or training room visits just to say hi.

Whenever this comes up, we cry. We cry because it is all of the little things that we thought we had time to appreciate and to say our goodbyes. I am lucky that I am still surrounded by such a loving community of close fiends. I feel like my time in quarantine has really embodied Bearcat Athletics. Despite all of the chaos and sadness in the world and our athletic community right now, I am surrounded by a family that I found at Willamette. It's a family that I never thought I would have, and they are the reason that I am okay right now.

Learning online has been a struggle to say the least. Most people, within the first few minutes of knowing me realize that I have incredibly bad ADHD, something that I have learned to use as a strength, but it has not been ideal for online classes. Paying attention in regular classes has never been easy, so transitioning to online has been tough. However, I am lucky that I am in all of my classes with teammates this semester. I can say with confidence that my teammates are the reason I am still on track in my classes. Even though some are hundreds of miles away, we have maintained the structure that we had before moving online. Having my teammates as a resource has helped ease the transition to online classes immensely, and I am incredibly grateful for that!

What has your experience as a Bearcat taught you?

There isn't enough space here for me to share everything that I have learned as a Bearcat. I came to Willamette as a junior after attending another liberal arts college for two years. Despite loving my old college, due to a few negative experiences, the campus was no longer my home. I took a leap of faith and came to Willamette. Throughout the application process, my campus visit, and making the final decision to come, I was absolutely terrified. I had come from a team that was filled with drama. During my visit I asked both Hillary Arthur and the team how they deal with conflict and drama.

When they responded "We don't really have drama and if we do people just talk it out," I giggled to myself thinking that there was no way a team of 25+ women could have no drama. When I came to Willamette, not only was I completely proved wrong, but my expectations were exceeded. Fionn Fortune (the other transfer student) and I regularly joke that when joining Willamette women's soccer we had no idea it was going to be this good. We would have been completely content with something half as good as what we got. Being a Bearcat has taught me how to be a better person, teammate, and community member. I learned that as people we need to all hold ourselves to a higher standard. I learned that anyone is capable of change, and that its incredible what a group of people that believe in each other can do.

If you could leave one piece of advice for future Bearcats, what would it be?

This sounds pretty cliché, but my piece of advise would be to not take anything for granted. To use the community you have around you to build yourself up and take others with you. With the community at Willamette and in athletics, there are resources that you can do amazing things with. Take advantage of what has been given to you, and use it to better yourself and those around you.

What are your future plans following graduation?

In the next few years I hope to attend law school for Environmental and Animal Rights Law. However, for the next year I will be completing a job/internship with an organization called In Defense of Animals (IDA). It is an international animal and environmental rights protection organization that aims at fostering a respect for our environment in many different ways. I will be working with the communications and campaigns department in developing campaigns in various locations worldwide. This will also include media coverage and action such as collecting footage and developing videos. I am extremely excited for this opportunity to work with this organization and to gain experience in this field that is becoming increasingly needed and applicable to all aspects of our lives.

From their teammates

What was your most memorable moment of Gena?

Caroline Adams: Shanna Keil and her as Ken for Halloween!

Jackie Gilroy: Gena and Shanna's Halloween costume

How has Gena impacted you in your sport or in life?

Caroline Adams: Gena fought through injury every day at practice and every game, sacrificing her body for the game - that's pretty incredible if you ask me.

What makes Gena special?

Jackie Gilroy: Gena was a true team player. She persevered through many injuries and always supported her teammates.

Is there anything Gena brought to the program that will have a lasting impact?

Jordan Roue: Fireflies is a hype song and no one will ever convince me otherwise.