How To Reduce Personal Food Waste

__ By Cait Kemp __ @caitlinkemp09

Thousands of students flock in and out of dining halls all day long, while employees serve up breakfast, lunch and dinner, with multiple options at each meal. The amount of food needed to serve a college campus is astronomical, but what is more important is how much of that food goes to waste at the end of the day.

On Monday, Springfield College English professor Justine Dymond and her Native American Literature class hosted an event titled “What’s On Your Plate?” – a food waste campaign to encourage students to be more mindful of what they eat and, moreso, the leftovers they throw out.

“The course is a part of the social justice domain for the gen-ed program… during one of our discussions in class about The Earth Charter, which is by Chief Jake Swamp, in which it’s sort of a manifesto about how to take care of the earth,” Dymond said. “In that conversation we started talking about hunger, food insecurity and then onto the conversation of food waste.”

Junior Erin Duffy, a student in Dymond’s Native American Literature class, had a part in the organization of the event. After the discussion in class, the students became more interested in the topic and how to spread awareness to their peers.

“One Friday, we were discussing food availability and food waste,” Duffy said. “One of my classmates, Alejandra Ladines, who works in Cheney, shed some light about food waste on our campus.”

Her classmate continued to share that at the end of the night, there is often an abundance of leftover food in the dining hall, but staff workers are not allowed to take any of it. Hearing this gave Duffy and the rest of the class the idea to work food waste into their final project to spread awareness about food waste and share how it affects the community.

“There is a lot of food waste in Cheney, it’s an all-you-can-eat situation… that gets just dumped in the trash,” said Dymond. “One of the questions is, there’s how to prevent it, but then there’s also going to always be leftover food, so how can that be distributed in a safe way to those who may be suffering food insecurity in the very community that we live in?”

To reach students across campus, the class created a survey to see how many people knew about food waste at Springfield College. They received over 100 responses. The survey asked students about food waste at school compared to at home, how much they think they put on their plate, and whether or not they eat most of it or end up throwing it out.

Through the event, the planning committee started a chapter with the Food Recovery Network, “which unites students on college campuses to fight food waste and hunger,” Duffy said.

The Food Recovery Network collaborates with college campuses to fight waste and feed people. There are local chapters at UMass Amherst, Worcester State University and Hampshire College, among others. There are programs on over 180 campuses across the nation, and together, they have recovered and donated over 5 million pounds of food, according to their website.

“Think globally, act locally,” Dymond said, the phrase acting as their mantra for the project.

The event was showcased in Cheney Dining Hall and the Union Cafe this past Monday and included a raffle, where students could try to guess the amount of candy in a jar representing the pounds of food an average college student wastes per year. They also gave out the survey link and additional information regarding food waste.

“My table was in the Union, and I had a couple of people stop by the table in passing and fill out the survey in addition to making guesses towards the jar, which is great,” Duffy said.

“The topic is important to me in particular because if we have so much leftover food at the end of the night in Cheney, why can’t employees take home some of this food?” she continued. “It applies to our class because Native Americans have a higher food insecurity rate.”

The plan to continue the campaign is in the works, but Dymond is hopeful that the students will continue this passion and want to share it with more people and really make a change in the community.

“Hopefully the chapter, we’re going to keep it going. During our final exam we’re going to do a debrief discussion…like how do we keep the ball rolling,” said Dymond.

Next time you grab a plate in line at Cheney, think about what you really will eat, and don’t overfill your serving. Being mindful about food waste and informing yourself is the first step in becoming educated and making a change in the community.

Justine Dymond’s Native American Literature class hosted the “What’s On Your Plate?” wwevent.(Photo courtesy of Springfield College)

In 1926, a test from the pits of Hell was resurrected. It lives in high school students’ nightmares, and can humble even the most academically successful people. The SAT. Despite the negative connotation around the SAT, there are attributes of the test that make it nearly flawless. From the incredibly in-depth reviewing process that scrutinizes every imaginable aspect of the 154 questions on the test, to the objectivity and comparability of scores, the SAT is arguably the best standardized test that has ever been created. Because of this, the SAT should be required for college admission. College admissions offices have utilized the SAT for decades. However, many colleges are challenging this long-standing precedent. With school dynamics shifting, some people believe that the SAT is not a good representation of individual academic abilities. Some colleges are answering criticism with policies such as “test-optional” and “test blind.” What these colleges have effectively done is overlook all of the benefits that come with requiring the SAT for admission. Standardized tests are advantageous when evaluating a students’ academic abilities. The SAT is incredibly objective because all of the tests feature similar questions, similar test-taking environments, and are graded by a machine. In addition, the SAT has a multi-step process for creating test questions. For example, there are test development committees that are composed of experienced educators that decide which topics should be tested. The next phase consists of reviewing questions for their fairness. A committee of high school and college professors examine every question to ensure that it falls within a certain criterion, according to College Board. In fact, at least 12 professional test developers review each question, resulting in a test that’s fair to ALL students. Despite the SAT’s objectivity, people argue that the SAT is unnecessary for the academic evaluation of students. They argue that high school grade point averages (GPAs) are sufficient for the analysis of college applications, Aaron Churchill wrote in an article for the Fordham Institute. While high GPAs are a good indicator of academic success, it’s hard to determine if grades have been subject to inflation as a result of lenient teacher grading. As a result, it’s almost impossible to compare students from across America. A viable solution to this predicament is the SAT, a test that allows college admissions to compare applicants free of bias because the test is objective. Others think college admissions will use the SAT as the main indication as to whether or not to accept students. Instead, college admissions takes a holistic approach when reviewing applications. They look at grades, test scores, extracurricular activities and application essays. Because of this, the score that students get on the SAT does not make/break their chances of getting into college. A prime example of this is a student who scored 1570 on their SAT, was ranked 3/1000 in their high school and took 12 AP classes. Despite all of these near-perfect accolades, the student was denied admission from Emory University, Jeffrey Selingo wrote in an article for The Atlantic. A counter to why SATs should be required for college admission is that there are test prep and financial inequities. To counteract this problem, there are programs such as Khan Academy’s free personalized SAT prep. However, families with money have the financial resources to send their children to professional SAT tutors that can improve their test scores. On the flip side, students who are not wealthy cannot afford tutors for the SAT. There will always still be insecurities in test-taking because there are most likely better tutors out there than Sal from Khan Academy. While this truth is not ideal, it is not a reason to trash the SAT. A successful test that the SAT can be compared to is the New York State Regents Examinations. To prepare, I devoted six hours every weekend during the months of May and June to study for the Regents Exams. Eventually, I started to see patterns in the questions being asked. What I mean by this is that students can expect certain test questions (repeat questions) on every Regents Exam. Naturally, I capitalized on this and did more practice exams until I was almost getting 100% on my practice tests. The reason why I was able to prepare in this fashion for the Regents Exams is because they are standardized. Since the SAT is a standardized test as well, it allows both students who are naturally smart and students who are academically motivated to score well. The SAT should be required for college admission. It is a standardized test that pulls questions straight from what high school students are learning in classrooms. Even though test equity is a problem, there are solutions out there that help level the playing field. In addition, the SAT allows naturally smart and academically motivated students to score well. While the SAT may hold a negative connotation in many people’s hearts, it doesn’t mean that it should be outright banned from colleges.

Grace Dzindolet. (Joe Arruda/The Student) Leading with Grace

A senior guard on the women’s basketball team, Grace Dzindolet has used basketball as a tool for her own self-acceptance, motivating her to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community.

__ By Braeden Shea __

ContriButor

Senior guard Grace Dzindolet listened intently to her very serious head coach, Naomi Graves, earlier this year during a November practice that took place in Blake Arena from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Graves stood at half court, explaining what the next drill would be. The team would be separating into two sides, guards on one half, while forwards and centers would retreat to the other. Right after they broke apart, Dzindolet started heading toward her side.

She took about three steps, stopped, and to much of the amazement of her teammates, threw herself into a full cartwheel. After sticking the landing perfectly, reminiscent of a gold medal gymnast, Dzindolet calmly walked over to the corner of the three point line as if nothing had happened.

Just a few weeks prior, on October 20, she delivered a SEAT at the Table presentation entitled Queer Culture in Athletics alongside junior Lily Gould. The annual SEAT at the Table event, which ran from Oct. 17 until the 24, is a week-long event of panels and discussions aimed to educate and provide depth and valuable viewpoints toward social justice issues and strive for equity and accountability.

In front of an overcrowded room located in the basement of the Physical Education Complex on campus, where students were forced to sit on the floor due to a lack of seating, Dzindolet shared what life is like as a lesbian athlete. While she didn’t throw herself into any cartwheels, her perspective was still so captivating and intriguing that even in that small, crammed room of people, all you could hear was silence, beside her words, of course.

To even the most keen of eyes, it would appear that Dzindolet is comfortable inside her own skin. She has an understanding of who she is and what her role is in life. But just a few years prior, you would see a completely different, more foreign, more lost character than you do today.

She grew up just about an hour and a half away from campus, in the small town of Holliston, Massachusetts, accompanied by her parents and brother, Anthony, a junior

Two wrestlers locked up at a dual meet against Roger Williams on Dec. 10. (Lucy Hamilton/ The Student)

__ By Garrett Cote __ @garrett_cote

Lined with solid maroon-and-white colors and “SPRINGFIELD” plastered in block lettering along each wall -- a white punching bag hanging in the back right corner of the room as it always does -- the Doug Parker Wrestling Room is primed and ready for yet another arduous evening practice.

The wrestlers who are healthy and able to participate in practice begin their warm ups, a combination of elegant plyometric work that displays their flexibility with an array of cartwheels and flips, coupled with stretching. Injured athletes sit off to the side on exercise bikes gradually intensifying their speed to stay warm and loose.

The daily build up of soreness, aches and pains can leave quite the tax on a wrestler’s body. Nevertheless, regardless of those nagging injuries tugging on their mental toughness, each member of the Pride wrestling team walks through the red doors and onto the two maroon mats laid out in the room at least five days a week for five consecutive months. It requires a commitment like no other.

“The toughest aspect of wrestling that not a lot of people understand is the everyday practice struggle,” Chase Parrott, a junior in the 149-pound weight class, said. “Almost every other sport goes into practice and genuinely has fun. You go to soccer practice and it’s fun playing soccer with the guys. You go to lacrosse and you run up and down the field throwing the ball with your teammates.

“I’m not necessarily saying that their sports are easy, but when it comes to wrestling practice it’s really just a grind. It’s a fight to see how hard you can hit each other and pick each other up, how many times you can get slammed and get back up. Everyday practice is so grueling on your body, both mentally and physically.”

Following 30 minutes of warm up, Pride head coach Jason Holder meanders his way through the double doors adjacent to his office -- which holds trophies, calendars with important dates and the depth chart of this year’s roster -- and into the wrestling room. He captivates the room with his booming voice, which bounces off the walls as his team listens intently. Aside from teaching them skills, Holder also sprinkles in life lessons during his practice sessions.

“We try to teach them how to be resilient and disciplined with their training,” Holder said. “When they become consistent with that, you can rely on them and they begin to rely on each other. They then develop leadership qualities that become helpful later on when they leave the program, and that’s sort of the goal. My job is to teach positive life lessons through the sport of wrestling that are going to carry over to their careers.”

For the next hour and a half, the labor-intensive practice plays out under Holder’s command. An hour and a half of nonstop moving, nonstop slamming between partners seeking to work out kinks before the tournament, nonstop fullspeed drills designed to make the athletes lose as much sweat as possible. It’s a race to see who can sweat the most, who can lose the most weight. The reward is the ability to replenish their bodies with a sufficient amount of nutrition succeeding their intense practices. The more they sweat, the more they can eat.

Managing weight is a struggle. Typically wrestlers will walk around roughly

A match at the Doug Parker Invitational Tournament. (Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athleics) 10 pounds above their weight class at the beginning of the week, having to shed that before the time comes to step on the scale for tournament weigh-in just hours before their first match. For Parrott, mental toughness is the key to remaining disciplined when managing his weight. It sounds simple, but it’s not.

“The whole lifestyle of wrestling is really draining on your health. Mentally, emotionally and physically,” Parrott said. “You’re constantly working out and practicing every day. And when you’re not, you’re still thinking about it. You’re not eating as much because you’re trying to get the weight off all while maintaining good grades and staying level-headed in the classroom. It’s tough to juggle, but you have to have a lot of willpower and learn to be mentally tough. It’s instilled in wrestlers at a young age.”

At Westhill High School in Stamford, Conn., Parrott saw plenty of success on the mat. He was a two-time state finalist (junior year in the 120 weight class, senior year at 132) and received a great deal of attention from collegiate coaches at the Division III level. Cutting weight, however, wasn’t a priority at the time, as high school coaches focus more on developing skill than they do managing their wrestlers’ weights.

“During high school, weight cutting is not a big factor at all,” Parrott said. “As you get into collegiate wrestling, kids cut 10-15 pounds per week. It really begins to have a toll on their mental health and stress.”

In his second season as an assistant coach for Springfield College, 26year old Pankil Chander adds a spark and boost of energy to the team as a young coach who has experience both on the mat and as a leader. After coaching stints with Bloomsburg University and Gettysburg College, Chander found his way to Alden Street in pursuit of his Master’s degree in athletic administration. He was a NWCA Scholar All-American and four year starter at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania.

Because he too struggled with weight management throughout college, Chander can relate to the challenges his wrestlers face.

“[Those struggles] were a lifestyle shift for me,” he said. “There was a point where I just started struggling with school, going through the days and everything else. I was just hungry all the time, and it began affecting my mood. I figured out a system and applied it, and in some respects, I feel like it was life-changing. Even how I make decisions now with how I train and what I eat is much better because of those weight cuts.”

Considering Chander has experienced difficult encounters, he now appreciates and understands the process in a healthier form, and advises his wrestlers proper techniques to go about “cutting weight” throughout each week.

“Physiologically, there are things that managing weight and a caloric deficit does to your mind and body that are hard to get around,” Chander said. “No matter how well you manage your weight, there are some points where you have to suck it up. We have systems in place that try to eradicate those things and make it easy for them, and there is always a learning curve in the process with each athlete. We try to manage each athlete differently depending on their weight cutting routines.”

Now in his 11th season, Holder once again has the Pride off to a red-hot start, winning each of their first three dual meets by at least nine points. Since Holder took control of the program in 2011, his teams have sustained great success, posting a winning dual meet record in all but one of his seasons at the helm. He was named the Division III Northeast co-Coach of the Year after ushering his team to a successful 17-5 record in 2020, a season where the Pride also had the sixth best overall team grade point average in the entire country.

Holder, now 43, was a three-time New Hampshire state champion at Timberlane High School. He went on to earn a starting spot at Division I Boston University for four consecutive years, and understands the rugged, relentless nature of the sport -- and the rewards that come with it both on and off the mat.

“You’re going to be sore. You’re going to have some aches and pains,” Holder said. “Once you get a good, solid warmup, you try to forget about it. You have to block the soreness out, and it’s easier said than done. In wrestling, you’re almost training to do that. You force your body to push through some pretty tough situations. If it’s an important match, guys push through it. It’s an important part of life, pushing through.”

Coach Naomi Graves and her team huddle during a stoppage of play. (Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)

___ By Hayden CHoate ___ @ChoateHayden

For the first time in 16 years, the Springfield College women’s basketball team is nationally ranked in Division III.

The Pride came in at No. 24 in the rankings last week but after two victories over Worcester State and Connecticut College, giving them a 10-0 record, they are now No. 18.

“I’m excited for our players,” Springfield head coach Naomi Graves said. “I mean, obviously from the coaching perspective you want to be ranked at the end of the season not the beginning but I’m really happy for our team and our players because they’ve worked really hard and they get another reward of saying we’re on the right track.”

This is the first time Springfield has appeared in the rankings since the 2005 season when the team went 22-7 and made an appearance in the NCAA tournament. Graves remembers her team that year being similar to the group she has this year. understand the big picture, and they’re going to understand what did it take our team to do this, how does it get us where we need to be and I think having a younger group, a coalition of younger players they get it they see it, they’re experiencing it and they may want to say to themselves I want to get it again.”

The recognition feels even better especially coming off a year where Springfield practiced all year long but played in one game last April.

“I think what makes it even sweeter for me and this team is last year we practiced the fifty someodd days with the hope of playing a game and now we’re in the position where we’re playing multiple games, so the part of the gift of this team is they’re just really grateful they can be on the court in Blake Arena, so there’s this understanding that this is a special moment. We didn’t have this last year.”

The Pride begin NEWMAC play on January 8 at home against Smith, who is 8-1 so far this season.

“Yeah, it was a similar team in terms of chemistry and cohesion, a group of kids that worked really hard and played well together,” Graves said.

Although being recognized is always a good accomplishment, Graves wants to make sure that her team builds off of it.

“I’m excited for our team and I’m excited personally,” Graves said. “I think we have to be very careful in how we perceive it but it’s certainly nice to have that recognition, to know that your hard work is paying off and someone’s noticing.

Senior Grace Dzindolet is in agreement with Graves and knows that the season is a long one and there is still a lot of hard work ahead.

“I think our team agrees that it’s nice to be recognized for our accomplishment,” Dzindolet said. “But we also try not to pay attention to it right now ‘cause we’re still early in the season and hoping to continue to grow as a team. We don’t want to be cocky when it comes to preseason wins. The team is focused on coming back stronger in January and continuing to prove ourselves.”

The Pride do not play again until Jan. 1, and there are only two more out-of-conference games before NEWMAC competition begins.

“Being undefeated going into the break isn’t anything we ever talked about or thought about,” Dzindolet said. “We went into every game just wanting to win and to work hard so it’s kind of surprising, but also a great feeling knowing that we still have room for improvement and are still nationally ranked. The girls are excited to see their family and rest up before we’re back for intercession and a lot more challenging games are coming in January so we’re just ready to prepare and start thinking about NEWMAC play starting soon.”

Dzindolet is just one of three seniors on the team in addition to two juniors and two graduate students. The team has seven sophomores and first-years and Graves hopes they will work toward this accomplishment beyond this season.

“I’m just excited that they’re part of the ride,” Graves said. “They’re the ones taking over in the future and they’re gonna

__ By Collin Atwood __ @collinatwood17

Up until three years ago, only the men on the campus of Springfield College were able to compete on the ice at Smead Arena. The women joined them with the creation of their own team in 2019 and it has been a journey to get where they are today. The first step for Tom Verrico, the head coach of the women’s hockey team and Assistant Director of Intramurals and Club Sports, was to survey the campus for interest in the sport. If there were no players, then there would be no team. Verrico has experience in starting a club sport on a college campus and specifically a women’s hockey team. He helped start the women’s hockey team at Curry College during his time as their Intamurals Coordinator. His involvement there made it easy for him to evaluate the talent at Springfield and see if there was a chance that they could compete in the Independent Women’s Club Hockey League. “We had a decent amount of talented interest here which would make us competitive in the league,” Verrico said, “I had some past experience being in the same league we’re in now when I was at Curry so I knew where the level of play would be.” Along with his coaching experience, Verrico also played youth hockey and still competes in a men’s league to this day. That’s exactly what he told Sam Foulkrod, senior at Springfield and member of the hockey team, when she helped start this club sport three years ago. “I told her that I used to coach and that I believe I know a decent amount about coaching,” Verrico said. Verrico made it clear that if anyone deserves credit for starting this team, it was Foulkrod. She played a major role in recruiting players by handing out flyers and reaching out to people. “Sam was definitely the brunt and start of this program,” Verrico said. Foulkrod and the other teammates that helped start this team are still on the team today and they are a huge reason why this team has progressed over the years. “Our first season we went a game over .500 and now we’re sitting in first place at 5-2 and I think that’s just a great accomplishment for a brand new program,” Verrico said. This season, the women’s hockey team has made multiple comebacks including an overtime win against Bates College, which is their only loss of the season. “This season is very special to me because I have found that our team is super resilient,” Verrico said. Although club sports are about less time commitment and less competition, the women’s hockey team competes just as hard as any other team would. “You don’t need to be highly competitive, even though we are,” Verrcio said. Club sports at a college are a great way for student-athletes to compete while still having time to focus on their classes. The level of competition is fairly similar, but practices are usually three or four days out of the week. “It’s my belief that club sports is the new trend because students want more time to focus on their academics at Division III institutions,” Verrico said. Rachael Curtis, a senior on the women’s hockey team, agreed that the main difference between an NCAA team and a club sport is that it takes less time out of your schedule. She has experience playing for the field hockey and lacrosse teams at Springfield before joining the hockey team. “It’s not as time consuming as an NCAA team,” Curtis said. As someone who played hockey throughout her childhood and high school career, Curtis was excited to get the chance to hit the ice again. “When I heard they were making a team I thought it was awesome and I definitely wanted to join,” Curtis said. The original group of students who started this program are preparing to graduate this year, but the future remains bright for this new and improving team. “I think that’s our goal; to continue to grow the program every year and to keep recruiting numbers to get them up so that we are super competitive within the league,” Verrico said. For more information about the team and to learn when upcoming games are scheduled, visit @scwomenshockey on Instagram.

Rachael Curtis, a senior at Springfield College, joined the women’s hockey team after thinking she would never get the chance to play again.(Photo courtesy of SGPhotonet).

continued from Page 9 who is also attending Springfield College. She spent most of her time as a child involved in sports as she was an avid soccer player until her freshman year of high school and played Little League baseball, until switching over to softball in high school.

But the sport that she connected the most with was basketball. She played on travel teams, in rec leagues, and eventually AAU and high school. Not only was it something she found enjoyable, but in times of need it became almost therapeutic. Whenever there was free time, Dzindolet could be found getting up shots on a neighborhood hoop, or at the colorful blueand-green local outdoor court at Goodwill Park. She would be working on her game and forgetting about the outside world - something that she needed to do quite often.

In some ways, Dzindolet was noticeably different from the majority of teenage girls.

“I was playing baseball, I went to every football practice just to hang out with the boys. That’s just how it was,” she said. When reminiscing about what she wanted to wear, she would tell her parents, “I don’t want a skirt, I want the shorts you just got Anthony.”

Although appearing and acting differently than most girls her age, she didn’t realize until just before her eighth grade school year started that she felt different as well.

She felt lost, explaining it as “One of those things I knew, but didn’t really know what it was, or how to put it into words.” Soon, however, Dzindolet found someone just like her. Someone she connected with and felt comfortable with. This was a comfort that she hid for two full years.

“It was two years of me just trying to figure out what I wanted, what made me happy, and who made me happy,” she stated.

Even though she had found someone she could be comfortable with, someone who made her happy, her partner was not as comfortable as her. The entire time they were together, her girlfriend never came out. So Dzindolet didn’t either.

But sophomore year of high school, tired of hiding who she really was, Dzindolet finally came out to her parents in person, with her girlfriend on a FaceTime call.

She remembered, “I was facetiming one of my friends, and I was like ‘Mom, I have something to tell you.’ She came into my room, and my friend was still on facetime, and I was like, ‘This is my girlfriend, just so you know.’ She was like ‘I love you, it’s okay,’ and then my dad, from the other room, was like ‘do you want to talk about it?’ and I was like, ‘No dad, I’m going to bed.’ And that was it.”

‘Coming out’ is when someone tells another person about their sexual orientation or gender identity. It is usually an ongoing process for a lesbian, gay, or bisexual person, rather than a one-off event because of how hard of an event it is. For Dzindolet, however, coming out wasn’t that hard.

“Coming out wasn’t bad. It was never an issue, it was kind of just awkward. You just have to get over the awkwardness of it. I don’t think I was very accepting of myself at the time, either. I just did it because I knew I had to do it to be with someone,” she said.

The hard part was that her father’s side of the family did not know, and didn’t know until she “literally just told them a couple months ago.” Immediately following coming out, her mother notified her side of the family through a mass text. Her father, on the other hand, said nothing about her “lifestyle choice,” as he calls it. It led to her having to be a different person around that side of the family.

“I would go to my mom’s side family parties and bring my girlfriend around and it would be fine. Then my dad’s side was like, ‘this

Grace Dzindolet takes a 3-point shot against Endicott. (Joe Arruda/The Student)

is my friend,’” she said.

“Sometimes that conversation is so uncomfortable, and so you just avoid it for so long. It wasn’t like they weren’t going to be like ‘Love you, Grace,’ but it was just...weird,” she added. “You just get used to being asked ‘How’s your boyfriend?’ and it’s like, “Okay, I’ll just shut up.”

Although delivering the line lightheartedly, her words carried more weight than a cargo ship.

While dealing with this huge identity issue off the court, on it, she knew exactly who she was. In her four years of playing varsity hoops at Holliston High School, she built herself quite the resume and topped it off with the most coveted milestone in high school basketball - 1,000 career points. By

Dzindolet goes in for a contested layup against Endicott. (Joe Arruda/The Student)

the time her high school career was wrapping up, the high level of play she produced caught the eye of some Division III coaches, including Graves of Springfield College.

After finally choosing to attend Springfield, she quickly fell in love with the atmosphere.

“Once I got here, it was awesome. It was exactly what I thought it would be. I really enjoy it,” she said. That love for the campus eventually turned into love for herself. The time spent at Springfield has allowed for her to finally come to a sense of who she is.

“She has found who she is over the past four years that I’ve known her. She’s a big personality. With basketball she’s found her place and you can tell that she is very mature... Everyone knows her on campus, and she’s a really awesome person,” said Stephanie Lyons, a senior on the team who has grown incredibly close to Dzindolet over their four years together.

Graves says that her play on the court has increased thanks, in part, to her off the court strides.

“Her basketball game is three times better this year, and honestly, I think it’s because she found herself,” Graves said.

One of the things I like about using Grace as an example right now is that all along she was passionate, but she was like this raw piece of clay. Now, she’s matured. She has an understanding, to some level, of the bigger picture.”

Now that she has had the opportunity to find herself, Dzindolet is using that for the betterment of others. Her main goal now is to help those around her, in any way that she can.

“I have found what I am more passionate about. I always knew I liked helping people, but I didn’t know how I could do that,” she said.

Dzindolet has found that the best way to channel her desire for helping others is on the court.

“It started in high school, because I was a freshman on varsity with all of these older people,” she said. “I had such good mentors and people who helped me along the way, so I always feel like if I looked up to these women in sports, I want to be the person that someone else can look up to.”

For Angela Czeremcha, a first-year student from West Springfield, Mass., Dzindolet has done exactly what she set out to do.

“I would say Grace is one of my biggest role models, especially on and off the court. She is always there and is kind of a ray of sunshine. She is amazing,” said a starstruck Czeremcha. “She is always checking in on me, always making sure I’m in the right headspace. Always making sure I am confident and collected and I know that I can talk to her about anything.”

Czeremcha is not the only teammate Dzindolet has made an impact on. In 2018, when Dzindolet and Lyons were in their first year on campus, Lyons was struggling with being at Springfield College. She wanted to transfer, but Dzindolet talked her out of it.

“Now she has kind of led me through life, she’s helped me a lot. Freshman year I struggled and she got me through it,” said Lyons.

Her drive to help others doesn’t go unnoticed, either. Graves appointed her as one of the captains (or “team leaders,” as she prefers), along with Lyons and Amanda “Sis” Carr.

“I’ve always seen the fact that people will follow her,” said Graves.

It’s easy to see why. On the court she doesn’t just help and support her teammates, but has fun in doing so. She is very loud and vocal, from playing tough defense to hyping up teammates after a good play. She constantly looks for high-fives and situations to pick up others’ heads. For herself, she doesn’t hone in on mistakes, rather just laughs them off and pushes through.

This season the women’s basketball team is looking better than ever before, thanks in large part to Dzindolet. Her attitude, along with her 11.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.2 steals per game have helped the team get off to one of its best starts ever. With a perfect 10-0 record, the team has jumped out to its best record in over 40 years, and is currently ranked No. 18 in the latest Women’s Basketball Coaches Association D-III Poll.

Whether it is using her quick hands to nab a steal and launch an outlet pass to a streaking teammate, or performing her signature pregame euro-step handshake; being a leader is Dzindolet’s lifestyle choice.