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Fightin' Words: Episode 3 - Steve Caulfield & Cassandra Saldarini · Fightin' Words: The Official Podcast of the University of Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: It's time for Fightin' Words, the official podcast of the University of Delaware Fighting Bluehead.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_04: Here's your host, Ed Laferge.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_04: And welcome into Fightin' Words episode three.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_04: I'm your host, Ed Laferge.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_04: Really excited to be back with you for another episode of Fightin' Words.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_04: Sorry we missed you last week.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_04: I was down sick, so had to change our schedule around, but we're really looking forward to what we have in store for you here on this episode.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_04: We're going to be joined by Steve Caulfield from our career readiness office.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_04: He does a lot of work with our student athletes, getting them prepared for life after college.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_04: We have a really high success rate of graduating our student athletes and having them go off, land jobs, continue their education.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_04: So really excited to see what he can share with us.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_04: And then we're going to be joined by one of women's soccer's finest.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_04: Cassie Saldorini joins us.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_04: She's been with the program for four years.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_04: Women's soccer off to a really hot 4-1-3 start back in action on Thursday at Villanova.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_04: So we're going to chat with her.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_04: But without further ado, let's jump right into things.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_04: Steve, thanks so much for uh joining us here on Fighting Words.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_04: How are you doing?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_04: I'm doing great, Ed.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_04: Thanks for bringing me on.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_04: You're going to be a dad.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_04: I am.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_04: I appreciate that.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_04: We're uh we're we're excited.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_04: We're looking forward to it.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_04: My first one.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, first one.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_02: My kid my kid just turned two.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_04: So you have a lot to look forward to.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_04: A lot to look forward to.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_04: You got a boy or a girl?
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_04: Boy.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_04: A little boy.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_04: What's his name?
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_04: Tommy.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_04: Tommy.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, men's soccer laughs at me when I tell them their name or his name.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, because they think of their head coach, Tommy McMenemy, every time.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: They do.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: They do.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of fun.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I appreciate you asking.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_04: Um, let's jump right into things.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, tell tell us about your background and and kind of how you got into this role.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I actually started as a teacher.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_02: So went to school, was history education undergrad student, started out as a teacher.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_02: I taught U.S.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: history and coached for a few years.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: The high school level?
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_02: High school level, yeah.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: Taught at the taught and coached at the high school level.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: Felt I wanted to have kind of a different impact on people just in general.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_02: So I took some time to explore a little bit, and I transitioned from teaching and coaching at the high school level to working with the private practice of the former chief of adolescent psychiatry at Christiana Hospital, uh, Dr.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: Nidia Daynez.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_02: Worked with her for a while and also met somebody through there at the University of Delaware who basically led to me getting a job at uh at the university, working out of the business college.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: Was there for probably about seven years, and then in January 2023, I was brought down to athletics to head up the career readiness office.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_02: It was kind of in a reboot phase, so just launching programs, getting things started, getting things off the ground in a in a new way uh the past three years.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: So every year's been different.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_02: Excited to talk more about it.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_04: And so you've been with the university for a decade now.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I had my 10-year anniversary on August 1st.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: So it's it's been a little bit.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: It's been a little bit.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: I'm excited.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_04: That's awesome.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_04: Well, help us understand kind of what your your your role is, right?
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_04: I understand that we we've had some really strong success numbers with student athletes graduating, getting jobs, continuing education.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_04: Talk to us a little bit about that and tell us why you think that might be.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, the reason why it might be so confusing is because my title is like nine words long and it doesn't really make any sense to people outside of here.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_02: Uh but official title is Associate Director of Student Services for Athletes, Career Readiness.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_02: No, Associate Director of Career Readiness, Student Services for Athletes.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: So it's a mouthful.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_02: It's a mouthful, right?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: Uh but my day to day is pretty straightforward.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it can be best summed up by saying I help the student athletes with everything you would hate about the job search.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: Uh whether it's figuring out steps for employment, leaving here, getting internships, job shadowing opportunities, uh going to grad school, helping with personal statements, essay questions for the application, resume, cover letter, LinkedIn, networking, everything you can imagine that goes into all right, I'm here, but I'm looking for that next step.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: What's it going to take for me to get there?
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: And that's my day-to-day.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: It's mixed up between running uh workshops, being an instructor in first-year seminar class for our student athletes, um team specific programming, industry-specific programming if needed, in terms of networking nights or uh other kinds of career-focused events, and then one-on-one appointments with the student athletes as well.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: So it's a mixed bag, but it can all be summed up by doing everything to help with the stuff that you would hate about job search.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_04: So it sounds like a lot of like hands-on education, how to find the job, how to go through the process, really helping them probably from start to finish if they really wanted you to for getting prepped to go land a job.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so this was this is gonna be my first year with the student athletes specifically, where I I'll have had the seniors when they were freshmen.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_02: So this fall is kind of the like the true test of what my day-to-day will really look like moving forward.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, you're absolutely right, you know, nailed it, and I'm helping people through every step of the process.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes when they're freshmen, they're coming in and getting started with uh career direction, major selection, sophomore year.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_02: We're really looking at trying to get them out of the University of Delaware on campus ecosystem so that they're connecting with people.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_04: So we're talking internships, volunteer opportunities, stuff like that.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: Anything like that.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_02: And then junior, senior year, things really start to get a lot more serious around finding those internship opportunities or just making sure that they're making connections for that next step, uh, full-time opportunities or grad school.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_04: And that's all 650 plus student athletes that we have have the ability to work with you and and utilize your services.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: Every single team, um, and you know, that includes Spirit, Mascot, Dance, and all the other varsity programs as well.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_02: So all student athletes, uh, you know, we're here for them.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: And the cool thing is that they also don't get cut off when they leave University of Delaware.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: So at a lot of other schools, a lot of other institutions, they graduate and then they can't ask for help, they can't access the career resources or get any sort of uh coaching through that process once they're gone.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's six months later, maybe it's two years, but the oldest person I've worked with outside of here just turned 83 uh last March.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: How about that?
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: And then there was another um another alum from one of our O3 teams that I was in touch with last summer.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: So there is no expiration date.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we support our student athletes all the way through, whether they've been out for two years, two decades, doesn't matter.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_04: So, current student athletes, uh alums, if you're listening to this, you have the ability to work with Steve to help you throughout your career process.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_04: So don't don't forget that.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_04: Um talk to us a little about like obviously you're helping and educating them, but what what type of work do the student athletes do throughout the process and the way that they may be interacting with you?
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_02: So it really does depend on the person, obviously.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you can say that about pretty much anything, right?
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: But the main thing is their freshman year in the first year seminar class that we have for all student athletes.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: There are they have a specific career project where they're really trying to figure out, okay, what could I potentially see myself doing?
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, what do I want my life to look like outside of work?
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: Because that's a super important component to everything that I do with them as well.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: You know, obviously we're trying to figure out what they might be doing from their nine to five if they're going to a nine to five, but uh we're looking at setting up their first resume if they haven't made one before.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_02: We're setting up their LinkedIn so that they have that professional image and footprint that we're starting to build digitally, because obviously you can look up anybody and everyone, and they're gonna see that they're on the roster here, but we need to make sure that we have that other side of them ready to go and polished as well.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um and really, you know, it depends on the student at that point because truthfully, we have a lot of student athletes that probably don't ever need to meet with me just because they're so on the ball and they're they're ready to go.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, such self-starters.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_02: And then there are people that need a little bit more to get started, and then they're good.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we meet people wherever they are, it doesn't matter what stage of the process they're in.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_02: So if you're looking at a timeline, it's gonna be resume, LinkedIn, getting comfortable with reaching out and connecting with people, initiating those conversations for networking purposes, and then just making sure that they're prepped for interviews, what do they be video interviews, in-person interviews, Zoom interviews, doesn't matter, just making sure that they're all squared away.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_02: And then also offer negotiation.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_02: So something that's pretty unique to student athletes is having to negotiate around practice schedules, lifts, you know, everything that goes into basically being a full-time student athlete, you know, there are a lot more demands on their schedules.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: So helping them through the process of, hey, this is a great company, I got a really nice offer from them.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_02: I would love to work for them in you know, a full summer internship, but I have preseason.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_02: And how do I work around that?
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_02: So navigating those conversations can be difficult.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_02: It's not always gonna work out because sometimes companies just can't be flexible, but a lot of times we're able to help them through that process so that they can both get that internship experience and still make it to lifts and practices and just get everybody on board.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_04: I wanna I want to follow up.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_04: You talked about the the first-year seminar class that you that that you teach.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_04: Is that a requirement for all um first years at the University of Delaware?
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_02: So every first year student at the University of Delaware does have to take a fresh or first year seminar course.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_02: The student athlete specific one is available for the student athletes, but they're not necessarily required to take it.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_02: They're getting a first-year seminar class, it may not necessarily be ours.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_02: So the business college has one set up.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: If they're an honors college student, they have their own set up.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, some engineering students have their own set up.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_02: So there are multiple variations across campus.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_02: It's just we have that our own that's specifically set up to address the unique needs of student athletes, and then just start to build that sense of community outside their team because as as first year students, they come in, their predominant social network on campus is their team's.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, that's awesome.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_04: And so I imagine just a component of that class is related to career stuff, but there's other stuff that the kids are actually learning.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_02: So we have the career project that is so we'll have I'll have I'll lead three different sessions throughout the semester that are career focused, and they have a an all-encompassing career project that's due at the end of the fall semester uh or towards the end of the fall semester, and then the other aspects could be touching on things with sports psychology will come in.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh other offices and departments around campus will come in, nutrition will be there, uh we'll have student wellness come in for a variety of topics, but really just want to make sure that they know all the resources that are available to them throughout the whole university, both as student athletes and just as University of Delaware students.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_02: So it's a mixed bag.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: But it's pretty incredible.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, unique stuff, and you know, not every school has this, so it's pretty cool to be a part of here.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that sounds really, really incredible.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_04: And you know, we talked about how we've had such great success.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_04: 95%, is that the number that I heard?
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_04: 96%.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_04: So this percent?
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_02: So the last the most recent number is actually 96%.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_02: 96% for the class of 2025?
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_02: For the class of 2025.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_02: I know it's confusing.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's uh it's on a basically a time delay.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_02: So the way you look at statistics for career outcomes are you take the first six months after graduation, and that's the window in time in which every university around the country is going, okay, where are students working, where are they going to grad school, and what percentage of that student population is actually employed or pursuing further education or playing professionally or whatever.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um people might be traveling, but you just make you try to do your best.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_04: That's kind of the industry benchmark, isn't it?
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_04: Six months.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and that's that's just the standard.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um if it's if it's six months in one day, it doesn't count, unfortunately.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: Uh or if or if uh a student responds to the email after certain deadlines have passed, that's why our our numbers aren't necessarily a little bit higher.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um fantastic numbers.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, it's been over 95% employed or pursuing further education or playing professionally uh the past three years.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: So two years ago it was 95.3, and then the next year it was a little bit higher.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_02: This year it's at 96%.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_02: So we'll see how our class of 2026 students who just graduated, uh, we'll see how they did in about December-January time frame.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's incredible.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_02: Looking forward to it.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_04: And so that 96%, that's it, that includes people working full-time, pursuing career uh pursuing grad school?
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_02: They're yeah, so it's they're either in a grad school program, uh huh, they're employed full-time, or they're playing professionally.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_04: Wow.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_04: That's incredible.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_04: So what drives you to help our student athletes kind of have this success after after school, right?
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_04: Like the the work that you're doing with them, you may not see the results immediately in in what you're doing.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_04: So it almost like you said, it's kind of this this time delay thing, but what drives you to do the work that you do?
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I've I've always been interested in origin stories and just see helping people get over hurdles, breakthrough challenges, what they thought was possible, what they realize they are capable of, and just pushing their limits.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, that was the most rewarding part of being and being a high school teacher at the beginning of my career and and coaching, and then moving into more of a clinical setting, um, just helping people push past what they thought was possible.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um and really, you know, it's a shame because so many student athletes feel as though, oh, I'm not gonna be as competitive of an applicant because I haven't had the same opportunity as non-student athletes to go get internship or career experiences.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_04: Because of the demand of being an actual student, because I mean they have so much on their plate.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_02: They're they're traveling, they're competing, they're going to lift, they're going to treatment, they're practicing, doing film, taking tests, studying, you know, everything that's on their plate.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um but seeing seeing them realize, oh, I do have a valuable skill set because the student athlete skill set of I mean, just the basic stuff of just being able to incorporate critical feedback and use it, well, like learn on on the spot and adjust and adapt.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's super important just in the workforce because in reality, the bulk of what people are learning in school is going to be outdated by the time they get a few years into their career.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_02: So they need to be able to learn and adapt and hold themselves accountable, be independent, self-starters, take that initiative.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: You're just some being able to manage their time, and the student athletes have that in spades.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_02: So helping them realize, oh, they they do have a lot of value, and they can see, okay, this is how I can reach out and initiate some of these conversations with employers, alumni, and start getting more exposure in the field that I'm interested in.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um, to be perfectly honest with you, I forget the question that you had asked me.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, what drives me?
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: Is that right?
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_02: It's what drives me.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_02: So again, I just I just really enjoy seeing people seeing things click and seeing them understand, oh, I can do this, and here's how I can make that happen.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_04: How do you think I imagine it was pretty seamless going from being a teacher to using that skill set to work with the student athletes a way that you do?
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's very seamless.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_02: And then something that I didn't mention about my background was I was fortunate enough to have met um Christian and Tanisha George through the University of Delaware, and uh, you know, had the opportunity to work with them and see what kind of stuff they do on like a marketing consulting side of things to understand how to better communicate and put things into writing and just uh be polished and presentable.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_02: And the everything that I've done has been able to lead me uh into this in terms of helping people put their best selves forward.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so it's it's been pretty seamless.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_02: Everything has you know, I had no clue I would end up here.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: Didn't didn't imagine this when I when I left school and started working, but you know, I've been able to take something from each experience, and that's something that I hope our student athletes are able to do as well, because you probably aren't gonna know where you're gonna be it five years, ten years outside of school, but there's always something that you can learn, there's always another skill you can develop, and as long as you're able to continue learning and growing, you can pivot into whatever that next move might be.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: And all the stuff that they get from just being student athletes at the division one level, um, with all those soft skills and interpersonal communication skills, discipline, you know, they can do anything they want.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_04: Totally.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_04: And and I know, I know, you know, you work with local businesses a little bit because they have a vested interest in in our student athletes.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_04: They want to hire our student athletes.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_04: Can you talk about how local Delaware businesses um are a part of kind of the work that you do and and the process that you work through?
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so a couple of years ago we piloted a uh winter internship program for the month of January, and uh we were fortunate enough to have some local companies participate.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, outs from the outcomes of that, you know, we actually ended up having two of the four students that interned with companies in the month of January get full-time positions.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh beyond that.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: And we had to make some tweaks to that program, but it's kind of coming back now this upcoming year.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_02: So something I'm really excited about uh is we are going to be looking for local businesses and alumni uh to host a couple of our student athletes because through the Tim Morrissey Student Excellency Fund, we are supporting uh two student athletes this upcoming January to just go out and get a micro internship job sh slash job shadowing opportunity in the month of January.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_02: So especially for our fall sport athletes who may not be able to commit to a full 10-week internship, 12-week internship over their the summer, you know, this would be a great opportunity for them.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_02: But uh one of the issues that we had a couple years ago is these companies, they they're really excited to help student athletes, they want to participate, but during that winter session, we only have four or five weeks to work with them.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, by the time they get them onboarded and they get an email and access and trained up to what work they're gonna need to help them with, uh it's time for them to go back in the spring.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_02: So we're fully funding it, and that way the company doesn't have to the stress of we're paying somebody to go through the onboarding process and then go back to school.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's incredible.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_02: We're excited about that.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and and so use here's a platform, shameless plug, right?
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_04: Businesses are interested in in getting a part of this process.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_02: What do they gotta do?
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh all they gotta do is reach out.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: So they can reach out to Gabby Hahn uh through business engagement.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_02: They can reach out to myself, and the safest way to reach to reach out is to just hit both of us.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um I'm sure we could probably what do you have show notes?
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: Is that what it is?
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: Is that what you do?
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_02: Throw the contact information over there.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_04: Throw the contact information over there.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, we can work on that.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_02: We can we can make that happen, but all you got to do is reach out to either one of us, and we'll be more than happy to move you forward in the process to see what we have.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: Because we do also want to make sure that we're lining up the student athlete that could be the best fit with this company based on their interests and just make sure everybody's happy.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: So this should be a win-win-win for everyone, and we want to make sure we keep it that way.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_04: That certainly sounds like it.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_04: What is there anything else that that people should know about you know the career readiness office and and and what you guys are doing?
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_02: I really I feel like it's less, you know, what should you know about me, and it's much more what people should know about our student athletes and just really truly how phenomenal they are as a collective.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, just as a kind of a funny personal example.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like I've I've got hearing aids in.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_02: Apparently, I have the hearing of an 86-year-old man.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_02: Oh wow.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but one of our students was in a meeting with me who was interested in speech language pathology, and they just said, you know, like, Steve, can I tell you something real quick?
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: You know, like I think your ears, I think you should really go get your ears checked out.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_02: Because we just got this research about how hearing loss is tied to Alzheimer's, dementia.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, like, can you do me a favor, go get your hearing checked?
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_02: When got my hearing checked, they were right.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_02: I really needed the support.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, I'm getting more out of working with our student athletes than they are from working with me.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_02: I can assure you that.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_02: So they're phenomenal.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: You're really if if you're thinking about how to engage with a student athletes, all you got to do is connect with myself or uh Gabby Hahn, and we'll make sure that we get you plugged in in the appropriate fashion because our student athletes are just incredible.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_02: And it's really great to see them go from competing, doing well in the classroom, doing well in their sport, and making those transitions into the next step of their lives and being a part of that process.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_02: So I get way more out of it than they probably do from working with me.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure of that.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I'm sure they're incredibly appreciative of the work that you put in, and so are we here.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_04: So thanks for everything that you do on a regular basis.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_04: I thought what you said um about our student athletes was so well said and well put because it it is so accurate.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_04: But Steve, thanks so much for taking some time out of your day.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_04: I know you've got uh a ton of student athletes you probably got to get to, but thanks for thanks for chatting with us for a little bit and kind of sharing a little bit about your experience.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_02: Of course.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for bringing me on.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: I appreciate it.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_04: That was Steve Caulfield.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_04: We're really excited to be able to chat with him.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_04: It's so awesome to see the different resources that our student athletes.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_04: Have on a regular basis, right?
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_04: We talk so much at the University of Delaware about the holistic experience, right?
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_04: Being a student athlete, what you do on the field, what you do off the field, it all matters.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_04: And this is a way that they have the ability to really set themselves up for success after college.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_04: When we get back, we're gonna have women's soccer star Cassandra Saldrini joins us.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna chat with her about her experience here at the University of Delaware.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_04: We'll be right back.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_03: Delaware football is coming back loaded.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_03: QB1, Nick Minicucci, Joe Silver, Gavin Moore, and more on Batman Season Tickets, partial plans, and single game seats are on sale now.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_03: Locking your tickets at bluehens.com.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_03: Go ahead.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_04: And welcome back into Fightin' Words.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_04: I'm Ed LaFerge.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_04: Excited to be joined by our next guest on the podcast.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_04: She's helping the women's soccer team to a 4-1 and 3 start on the season.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_04: Scored her first two collegiate goals this uh season.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_04: Cassie Salderini.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_04: How are you?
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'm good.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: How are you?
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_04: Wonderful.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_04: Thanks so much for joining us here on the podcast.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, of course.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_04: So uh we just had Steve Caulfield on and he does some incredible work.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_04: Have you had the opportunity to uh connect with him and use his services at all?
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I have.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: He I want to go to medical school.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a human physiology major.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: I've met with him a couple of times.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: He's pointed me in the right direction for like shadowing opportunities and things like that.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_04: That's awesome.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna get into the medical school piece here in a little bit.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_04: But first I want to talk about soccer.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_04: Um how has the start of the season been so far?
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, so far so good.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: We're 4-1 and 3, I want to say.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: So um got two more games out of conference.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: We're playing Villanova and Columbia, so just wanting to get two more wins on the table before we begin.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, has it been exciting knowing that um, you know, you're healthy, you've overcome some injuries, you're contributing to the team's success?
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, so exciting.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: I think being injured and being like off the field for a while gives you a little bit more context.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, we joke around, you know, we get to do this, but like you you don't really want to do conditioning, but we get to do this.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um but then when you really don't get to do it, it it puts it into perspective for you.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: So it's important to keep in mind, I guess.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_04: Well, what was it like kind of overcoming the injuries and going through that process knowing that you couldn't be on the field doing the thing that you probably love most?
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, obviously it sucks, like you wish you're out there with the team, but um was super supported by my teammates, by our staff, by you know, SJ, Messiah, Jarrett, like all of our um trainers.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it was tough to get through, but obviously I had a lot of support, so that was good.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_04: Can you talk a little bit about a little bit more about the support and the different resources you right?
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_04: You mentioned your athletic trainer, SJ, you mentioned your strength and conditioning coaches.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_04: Talk about just kind of the the resources that are available to you here as a student athlete.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, so many resources.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um when I first had surgery, we I was in rehab every day.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: SJ was giving me obviously different rehabs to go through.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then ultimately once I was able to start like moving again, starting my running progression back, I had like a modified like packet that was given to me for exercises that I was allowed to complete.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: So um obviously like the expertise of Messiah and Jarrett was very helpful there.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then um there were other girls who were injured with me.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, people who are still injured, they're very involved with those people's recoveries as well.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_04: That's awesome.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_04: I it's it's one of the things I love so much about Delaware is just the resources that we do provide to our students.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: I agree.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_04: Um big milestone for you this season, right?
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_04: You guys had a 2-0 uh win over Bucknell.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_04: Uh you scored both of those goals.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_04: It was over the first two of your career.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_04: How cool was it to finally uh kind of get those under your belt and be able to directly lead to uh a victory?
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's pretty awesome.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, happy to be able to get the ball in the back of the net.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: I think the win in general, any win in general, is like a reflection of the team performance.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: So obviously just happy to be a part of that.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_04: You came in as a freshman with Kelly Lawrence, who was a first-year head coach.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_04: Big win in the first game against Syracuse.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_04: I remember that one closely.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_04: What what's it been like playing for her?
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_04: And you know, what do you think uh the the transition of the culture uh and and program has been over the the four years that you've been here?
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think to start that she's moved our program like drastically in the right direction in terms of production and like the way that we look on the field.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um I also think that the team culture is greatly improved and uh we spent a lot of time, we have a lot of culture meetings, we have a lot of we put a lot of intention towards like uh fostering a good environment for all of our players, and I think that she's obviously contributed a lot to that.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_04: Well, that's incredible.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_04: Um big things happening here in in almost two months.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_04: We're hosting the Conference USA Women's Soccer Championship right in Grant Stadium.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_04: Um how much do you guys think about making sure that you qualify for the tournament to be able to play a game on Grant at your home stadium to cap off your senior season?
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, obviously the goal is always to win, and we won a conference championship really badly.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um to be able to win at home would be incredible.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, I'm a senior, so to be able to for all of us, all the seniors, it would mean a lot to end our college careers on on that note, like it would be incredible.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, well, hopefully uh you guys can get the job done, and and we'll see you as one of those teams playing in in Grant come uh November.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_04: Um but after you're done, you talked about med school a little bit, you mentioned it before.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_04: Um, what kind of triggered you to want to go to med school?
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_04: What's the direction you're looking to go?
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_04: How's that process been so far?
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um I've always been interested in science.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know, I'm a human fizz major, like I said, I really enjoy my classes.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um the plan right now is to take a gap year, gotta study for the MCATs, things like that.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: But um, yeah, I don't know.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: Everything makes sense in the medical world, so I I like that like logical thinking.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_04: Logical thinking.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_04: There has to be a reason for why something.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_04: So are you leaning one way or another when it comes to what you want to do with med school?
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_04: Like, do you want to be a podiatrist or just a general practitioner?
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_04: Like, have you have you thought any any about that?
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: I have a decent amount of shadowing experience in emergency medicine, which I think is pretty exciting.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, internal medicine, I don't know.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: I got a I got a lot to figure out.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_04: You got some stuff to figure out.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_04: That's okay.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_04: Talk about the shadowing experience that that that you've done.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_04: Is that something local?
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_04: Something back.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I shouted at Christiana and uh shouted a couple doctors there.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's interesting.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I think a lot of emergency medicine is ruling out actual emergencies.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so there's like parts of the day where it's like a rush and you're like, gotta make sure the patients who come in are alright, and then there's other parts of the day where you're just making sure that there's not a real emergency happening.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's all cool.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_04: Hey, as long as you enjoy it, that's all that matters.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_04: Well, Cassie, thanks so much for taking some time out of your day and joining us here on Fighting Words.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_04: I appreciate it.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_04: That was Cassie Saldorini here on Fightin' Words.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_04: Super excited.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you all for tuning in.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_04: Episode number three.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_04: Again, apologize that we had to kick this one back a week.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_04: I was under the weather last week, but really excited to be back in the chair and back bringing in some cool stories.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_04: Ahmed LaFord, your host.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_04: Don't forget to subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_04: Wherever you get your podcast, you'll find Fightin' Words.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_04: Until next time, go hands.