WATCH: Florida Tech’s Scholar-Athlete Spotlight Recognizes Soccer Player Allyn Jaime
By Jerry Durney, Florida Tech News Bureau // December 13, 2021
majors in meteorology with a minor in communications
ABOVE VIDEO: Scholar-Athlete Spotlight, Ep. 14: Allyn Jaime
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Being a scholar-athlete at Florida Tech takes an incredible amount of hard work and dedication to excel both in the classroom and on the field.
In this Scholar-Athlete Spotlight, we feature Panther women’s soccer player Allyn Jaime, a junior who is currently pursuing a degree in meteorology.
Hailing from the other side of the Melbourne Causeway in nearby Indialantic, the forward was named to the Sunshine State Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll and Florida Tech Athletic Director’s Honor Roll during the 2020-21 school year.
She also contributed to the Panthers’ 2021 NCAA South Region Championship team this season as her game-winning goal in overtime at Eckerd on October 9th proved vital in Florida Tech qualifying for the SSC Tournament.
Few places in the country offer a better perspective on weather than the Sunshine State. We talked with Ally about what she wants to do in the world of meteorology after she graduates and about the magical 2021 season she just experienced.
■ What’s your major at Florida Tech and why did you choose this? Is it something that you’ve always wanted to be a part of?
My major here is meteorology with a minor in communications.
I became interested in meteorology during my senior year of high school when I was just taking kind of a random meteorology elective class. And then my teacher brought in some of her colleagues that she used to work with, and they were talking about research they did on hurricanes.
■ What was it about Florida Tech that drew you here?
It was kind of a variety of things. Originally, I wanted to go to a big school really far from home but Florida Tech’s super close to home, and it’s a smaller school, but it was just a perfect fit for me between soccer, the meteorology program, and the professors.
■ What was it about Florida Tech that drew you here? Living in Florida, you get a chance to learn so much about the weather between our active summers and Hurricane Season. So, what’s something about meteorology that you’ve learned while you’ve been here that you didn’t know before?
I knew going in that it wasn’t just an easy major, that there was a lot of math and physics that come into play, and learning and looking at all the graphs. My remote sensing classes, my synoptic meteorology classes, can be difficult, but they also can be really fun.
■ What was it about Florida Tech that drew you here? How do you plan to use your degree after graduation?
Originally, I was looking into doing research on hurricanes, but I’ve talked to some alumni that graduated and they went to more of the communication side of things. So, I’m looking at maybe finding a weather station to work at.
■ What was it about Florida Tech that drew you here? For those that don’t know, there actually is a National Weather Service office here in Melbourne. Have you had the chance to work with them?
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to work directly with them, but I am hoping to work with our on-campus radio station WFIT in a media practicum class that I’m taking and I’m going to be doing the weekly weather forecasts!
■ What was it about Florida Tech that drew you here? What are some of the exciting projects that you’ve been able to work on in classes here?
It’s been really great to kind of get that hands-on experience. From freshman year, you get to have biology, chemistry, physics, labs, all that kind of stuff. And right now, I’m in a remote sensing class that we did a really cool term paper on.
■ What was it about Florida Tech that drew you here? So how do you manage everything else once you’re in season?
Well, a great thing is we do have really understanding faculty and staff here, as well as Mandi Bennett, who works to be that liaison between athletics and academics. Our coaches are also really on top of us to keep that good GPA.
It can be hard and stressful at times, but it’s just so much fun that you just put up with all the hard stuff.
■ What was it about Florida Tech that drew you here? How has being a collegiate athlete prepared you for what you’re doing now and what do you take from soccer that you apply to your studies?
I think that when you’re going to college, everyone’s smart but it really comes down to who’s driven. On the field, you’ve got to work, you’ve got to just keep going no matter what, until the final whistle. And it’s the same way with school, you can be smart, but if you don’t work hard, you’re not going to get anywhere.
■ What was it about Florida Tech that drew you here? What advice would you give to an athlete that’s looking to come here that might get into the world of meteorology?
I would say keep your options open.
In my freshman year, I was really stuck on wanting to do research on hurricanes. And then now it’s my junior year and I talked to the communications department about some more options that I have, and now I’m falling in love with the journalism and broadcasting side.
■ What was it about Florida Tech that drew you here? When you look back at the 2021 season, what will you remember the most fondly?
I think one thing that just really sticks with me is when we were having our little spell of just a bunch of ties and Coach (Ryan) Moon was just like ‘be patient, we’re going to peak at the right time, we’re going to peak at the right time,’ And then we just went on this crazy winning streak at the end and got to go super far!
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