Oct. 20, 2015
Every Tuesday, the Nevada athletic communications department will post a feature story as part of its Wolf Pack Weekly series. These stories will provide fans with an inside look at the Wolf Pack, and will focus on athletes on the field, in the classroom or in the community.
By Tara Park
Special to NevadaWolfPack.com
RENO, Nev. - Although the Wolf Pack lost five seniors from the women's basketball team last season, three of the five continue on at Nevada this year to complete their respective degrees and aid the athletic department.
Mimi Mungedi is in her final semester of the civil engineer master's program and will walk this December in Lawlor Events Center. Emily Burns and Anna Cameron are set to walk this spring-Burns with a bachelor's degree in health science and Cameron with a bachelors in mechanical engineering.
All three women share the challenges of adjusting to life after collegiate sports, but also credit how it has strengthened them and better prepared them for the next step in their lives.
"At first I was excited," Cameron said when describing the last couple of games in her collegiate career. "Then I realized you lose a big part of identity and family. It's harder to say goodbye to that. It went from exciting to scary."
The life of a student-athlete is demanding both in the classroom and on the court, so it is common for there to be a feeling of relief when this burden ends. However, as Cameron addressed, it is life altering when a student-athlete completes his or her eligibility in the NCAA.
"The weirdest part is having the free time. You don't know what to do with yourself. I filled up my schedule with internships," Burns said.
Burns has two physical therapy related internships. She is currently working for Active Physical Therapy, an outpatient physical therapy clinic, and Physical Therapy Services at Northern Nevada Medical Center. Burns also interns for Nevada's athletic department as an assistant student coach for the women's basketball team.
Like Burns, Cameron and Mungedi also have internships related to their degrees and another internship within the athletic department. Cameron is interning for Sunvelope Solar Inc. where she is learning the business side of renewable energy as she handles everything from engineering design aspect, to manufacturing, to installing solar panels. Cameron's role within the athletic department is game preparations for home sporting events, helping matches and games run more efficiently.
Mungedi interns for a civil structuring engineering company, Ferrari Shields & Associates, and works in the athletic department's marketing area by helping with football and women's basketball.
"It's weird, you see what happens behind the curtain with media timeouts and coaches calling timeout," Mungedi said in respect to her marketing internship. "On the team you hear about it but don't pay attention. But now I know about it; sponsors pay, they help the team, the program, they support the Pack."
While Mungedi is well on her way as a civil engineer, she is not done with basketball just yet. Mungedi was drafted by the WNBA's Tulsa Shock last April but did not make the final roster. She is now in pursuit of playing basketball professionally overseas once she completes her masters.
"It was amazing first being drafted, and then to have the opportunity to go and see what it was like, to be a professional," Mungedi said.
Cameron is also looking to go overseas after she gets her degree, but rather than playing basketball she wants to attend a European grad school. The universities she applied to have wind power technology for international renewable energy. Burns has applied to grad schools also for physical therapy. Being from Reno, Burns is excited to experience something new. However, that does not mean she is quick to dismay her experiences at Nevada as a student-athlete.
"Looking back now that it's done there's so many that they all blend together," Burns said. "Definitely there are times when I look back and don't know how I pulled that off."
All three women spoke of learning their time-management skills while playing college basketball. Cameron noted once having to take an exam in a hotel lobby at three in the morning, because the team was delayed traveling to an away game. Despite stressful experiences like this one, the former student-athletes appreciate the journey.
"Coming to Nevada shaped me into an adult, I have more so found myself here than any other place I've been. The program and schooling has allowed me to develop and become the best version of me," Cameron said.
With so much love and passion for a sports program, it is easy to see the difficulty student-athletes then face when it ends. However, these former Nevada basketball players demonstrate how to use collegiate sports as a building block.
"Ex-athletes finding a way without a sport, is like finding who you will be in the future," Cameron said. "I joined the Society of Engineering, a lot of my future has been about that. The national conference is coming up where I can meet wind power companies. Having that direction has really helped me make it less of a waiting period."
Mungedi has a great attitude about tackling the future and the uncertainties within it. She looks at it with an optimistic mindset-that "new" means "good," and it is an opportunity to grow. Mungedi compares previous life adjustments, like transitioning grade levels and first coming to college, to this life change. It is exciting; it is a new step.
"What is four years? It's part of your life. College basketball was going to start and it was going to end. You have to know it's going to be over and move on. I want to see what is going to be next," Mungedi said.
Wolf Pack Weekly Archive (Last Five)
Oct. 13, 2015 - Niki Silveria, rifle
Oct. 6, 2015 - James Butler, football Sept. 29, 2015 - Khoo sisters, women's golf
Sept. 22, 2015 - Meagan Wood, cross country
Sept. 15, 2015 - TUcker Melcher, football
