As a new season of sports at St. Thomas University begins, new Tommies arrive in town hoping to leave their athletic mark on the university.
Aimee O’Neill, a fifth-year transfer from St. Mary’s University, wants to pursue STU’s Master of Social Work program and continue playing hockey.
“I know that they’re a great team from playing against them for four years, so definitely something I wanted to try,” said O’Neill.
According to O’Neill, her passion for social work stems from volunteering at hospitals and over five years of experience working in foster care.
“It wasn’t something I always wanted to do until I dipped my toes in it a little bit and then I was like, ‘Okay, I do like this a lot,’” said O’Neill.
O’Neill said that her goal is to change the system, which is ‘pretty broken,’ with social work and foster care.
“I’m a hard worker, on and off the ice. I’ve always put 100% into my hockey, but also into my academics.”
After 102 appearances and 41 points, the forward from Nova Scotia hopes to bring a strong impact to the team and go to Nationals.
“The girls were all very welcoming right away,” O’Neill said. “I was a little worried coming from a different team, it’s different being like a rookie on the team, but not really and then not being one of the older girls on the team, but I am.”
Born and raised in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Brayden Bruce committed to STU after spending a weekend practicing with the men’s volleyball team.
“The team accommodated me very well, they were nothing but welcoming with my presence,” said Bruce. “Even though I was only there for a couple of days, they wanted to help me get better but also wanted to introduce me to themselves.”
For Bruce, the biggest challenge is missing family and friends from back home, but volleyball and his new teammates help coping with homesickness.
“My teammates and a lot of new classmates have come from away, so they’ve gone through the same experiences that I’m going through right now,” said Bruce.
Ava Slipp was the first recruit for the upcoming soccer season, said that she wants to be a lawyer majoring in either political science or law, politics and society.
“I’ve always been somebody that likes following rules, I feel like it’s a good job for me,” said Slipp
For Slipp, the biggest challenge has been trying to catch up to the university level of intensity in addition to balancing school and soccer.
“I’ve been trying to focus on looking at my other teammates who play my position and I try to use them as an example and match my play to theirs, so I can develop into what the coaches want,” said Slipp.
Outside of soccer, Slipp is someone who enjoys art, baking and decorating cakes and hopes to bring positive energy to the locker room.
“I’ve been trying to adjust … I’m not having my closest friends with me but I spend time with my family,” Slipp said. “I do enjoy painting, so I’ll paint in my free time.”
