Chelsea McMeans, in May, will have completed one of the most difficult majors at Lipscomb, and she will have done it while playing Division I basketball.
McMeans, a biology major, grew up in La Vernia, Texas, which is just outside of San Antonio. She started out aiming for medical school, but for various reasons, her plans have changed.
“I definitely want to get my master’s,” McMeans said. “I am applying to grad school for genetics right now.”
Helping others is something that McMeans enjoys and would love to carry with her into her career and life after college.
“If I could do anything, I want to be a professor,” McMeans said.
Not only does the senior basketball player have dreams of becoming a college professor. McMeans also would love to be a basketball coach.
“If I could coach, I would like to coach,” she said. “Not anything big but even like an AAU team would be pretty cool.”
McMeans is currently in her fourth year of playing on the Lady Bison basketball team. She played both her freshman and sophomore years but was injured during her junior year and took advantage of a medical redshirt. This season is going to be McMeans’ last season to play wearing a Bison uniform.
“I redshirted last year, but I won’t be staying for a fifth season,” McMeans said.
McMeans said playing basketball at Lipscomb has helped her learn some very valuable life lessons.
“I learned so many important things here,” she said.
Though McMeans only took a medical redshirt her junior year, she struggled with injuries throughout her career, but she said these struggles only helped her grow.
“Be happy in every moment,” McMeans said. “I have gone through a lot of struggles with injury, and I learned time flies so be happy and find the best in every situation.”
McMeans found her faith growing during her time spent at Lipscomb as well.
“Through my struggles, I have found how much I have grown,” she said.
One of the most influential people in McMeans career has been Brent High, Lipscomb’s associate athletic director for spiritual formation.
“He was kind of like a father figure who I could talk to when I was struggling with anything,” McMeans said.
“I am so much more mature in how I think about things,” she said, “and that God won’t put me through something that I won’t be able to handle.”