JGBS Series – Lotte Derksen

Submitted by Isabella Schultz, Thomas More University student

Lotte Derksen is nothing short of extraordinary. She has done it all from coming to the United States from the Netherlands to play soccer to excelling in the exercise science program at Thomas More.

    Derksen is a senior midfielder on the women’s soccer team, but more importantly, she is a member of the James Graham Brown Scholars program. She credits both the JGBS and soccer programs for her success as she would not have known JGBS had existed without soccer.

    “I actually heard about it first through my coach,” Derksen said. “He came up to me to tell me about the program and told me that he thought I would be a good fit for it.”

    Once Derksen went through the grueling process of writing essays, getting letters of recommendation, making videos, and getting through the interviews, she finally became a part of the JGBS program during her sophomore year.

    Since then, Derksen has been able to participate in many different activities every semester such as taking honors seminars, going on retreats, workshops, and cultural activities, and having the opportunity to get to know other students in the program better.

    During this past semester, she has had the opportunity to participate in an honors seminar called, “Leadership Under Stress”, and had the opportunity to advance her leadership skills at a military base in Dayton, applying what she learned in the honors seminar there.

    On top of all that JGBS requires to stay in the program, we can’t forget that Derksen is also a full-time athlete. Derksen credits Thomas More for a lot of how her soccer career has been planned out and ultimately she said that choosing Thomas More was rather easy.

    “I wanted to be able to combine playing soccer at a high level while also studying, and in the Netherlands that was not an option as universities are not set up the same as here,” said Derksen. “Back home you play sports just at clubs. That is why I wanted to go to the US and I got recruited by the soccer coach here and I decided that TMU was a good fit for me.”

    Since committing to Thomas More, her career has been impressive. She has played in 65 matches, started in 25 matches, scored five goals, has had three assists, and has played a total of 2,615 minutes.

    Outside of both JGBS and soccer, she has been able to make friends and connections that will last a lifetime.

    “I’ve been here for almost four years now and one of the things I like the most is the fact that wherever I go on campus, there is usually someone I know,” Said Derksen. “The contact with professors is also very low-key. When you walk in the hallway they might stop by for a little talk or just to say hi, which makes the step to ask for help way easier.”

    As of today, after she graduates from Thomas More, Derksen is planning on moving back to Europe in order to get her master’s degree in sports science or human movement science. She one day hopes to enter the field of either sports performance analysis or healthy aging.

    The JGBS program has been an outlet for Lotte the majority of her time at Thomas More. Though it is a rigorous program, she wouldn’t have traded the opportunity to be a part of something so special for anything in the world

James Graham Brown Scholars Series – Overview

    The James Graham Brown Scholars program is an honors program that recognizes and challenges students to become well-rounded leaders and citizens in the world. Along with a scholarship, the students selected for this rigorous program participate in special seminars, experiential learning in their communities, and the opportunity to participate in research. This program is hard enough to excel in, but adding the layer of being a student-athlete is even more challenging.

    In this series, those student-athletes will be sharing their experiences as accomplished students in the classroom and also outstanding athletes on the field and court. The sports that the JGBS student-athletes compete in within this program range from soccer to football to volleyball. These student-athletes do the unthinkable and persevere throughout their daily lives. They always go the extra mile, whether that is on the court or in the classroom. To learn more about the James Graham Brown Scholars Program go to: https://www.thomasmore.edu/info-for/new-current-students/academic-opportunities/james-graham-brown-scholars-program/