Dec. 1, 2009
By Nicole Chavez – Media Relations Assistant
Wins and losses are only part of the equation for collegiate coaches, who are also judged by the type of young adults that emerge from their respective programs. In this regard, Lobo head coach Jeremy Fishbein and the University of New Mexico men’s soccer program has a strong resume. The most recent example is former Lobo Chris Wright.
Chris Wright cracked the Lobo all-time lists for points, goals, shots, and games played at New Mexico. |
An athletic standout from 2005-2008, Wright racked up accolades on the field and cracked the Lobo all-time top ten lists for points, goals, shots, and games played during his time at New Mexico. Wright was also an academic standout who has maintained a 3.96 overall GPA, majoring in Portuguese, and was a three-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American. Wright recently added another major accomplishment to the already weighty list — he was a finalist for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.
Wright is humble in person, yet confident at the same time. He chooses his words carefully. His potential to be inspiring is evident and his positivity is contagious — most likely reasons he’s always been a leader. Though Wright wasn’t selected during the final round of Rhodes competition, he went up against the top students in the United States on the basis of high academic achievement, integrity of character, a spirit of unselfishness, and physical vigor.
“I’m very thankful,” said Wright. “It’s obviously hard to lose, but it was certainly an incredible learning experience. I was able to meet a group of fantastic individuals — not only my fellow candidates, but also the committee members themselves.”
Established in 1902 by the Will of Cecil Rhodes, a British philanthropist and African colonial pioneer, the Rhodes Scholarships afford recipients two to three years of study at the University of Oxford in England. It is arguably one of the most famous academic awards available to American college graduates. Less than 200 finalists emerged from an initial applicant pool of 805, and Wright was one of them.
He traveled to Colorado Springs on Nov. 20 with 11 other district finalists for a selection committee interview. Wright spoke about the varied interests of the accomplished applicant group, which included two archaeologists, a singer-songwriter, a political aficionado, and a student who will be putting a satellite into space in May.
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“Academics has always been important to Coach Fishbein, and that was one of the reasons why I felt very comfortable giving my verbal commitment to UNM.” Chris Wright, former Lobo men’s soccer player |
“It was a great group of people,” said Wright. “I’m really happy that we exchanged contact information, and I think it will be really interesting to see where everyone is in ten years.”
The application process can be exhausting, but Wright credits Dr. Diane Rawls of the UNM Honors Program for putting the bug in his ear roughly two years earlier.
The initial UNM application included a letter of intent and curriculum vitae, while the official Rhodes application process involved obtaining up to eight letters of reference, writing a personal statement of 1,000 words, finalizing the CV, and sending the completed packet to the Rhodes Committee by the Oct. 6 deadline. Wright and Abdullah Feroze, the other representative from UNM, were notified that they were finalists about a month later and had two weeks to prepare for the interview in Colorado Springs.
“I decided to apply mainly because I wanted to continue my education,” said Wright. “I know that I always want to be a lifelong learner, and it was a chance to study abroad at a place where I probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to study.”
Wright has been a model student-athlete since 2005 and he has been on the Dean’s List in each of his eight semesters at UNM. He’s just one of several Lobo men’s soccer players who have excelled both on the field and in the classroom — the Lobo men’s soccer program has achieved a GPA above 3.2 as a team since the fall of 2003.
“Academics has always been important to Coach Fishbein, and that was one of the reasons why I felt very comfortable giving my verbal commitment to UNM,” said Wright.
Wright cites his closely knit family as one of the determining factors in his academic and athletic success. |
He mentioned that the new Lobo Center for Student-Athlete Success is a valuable asset for student-athletes, because academic advisors are always on hand and it provides a more accessible place for athletes to study than main campus.
A closely knit family is one of the underlying factors that Wright credited for his success as well. His parents Philip and Alynn Wright played collegiate soccer and volleyball, respectively, and both have coached at the collegiate level in addition to pursuing other professions. He also mentioned influences such as his grandfather, a college professor, who showed interest in Wright’s academic pursuits from a very young age.
“The important thing I learned from them is that finding something that you’re passionate about is more important than doing something that will make you money,” said Wright. “Those two don’t need to be exclusive, but they don’t always go hand in hand either. I think it’s really important that you’re doing something you love to do.”
Wright will graduate with a BA in Portuguese in December, and says that he will probably pursue other avenues for some time before returning to college to finish a Biology degree. Medical school has always been on his radar, and he’s taken all the prerequisite classes that will allow him to pursue that goal. He said that he will evaluate his options and varied interests over the next few months, but also wants to take some time to enjoy being young — and he deserves that.
“I’ve learned to take every defeat as a learning experience, and always to come back as a stronger person,” said Wright. “It just motivates me to push towards my goals and try to realize them. I think one of the strong lessons of sports is that you always have to believe in yourself. When you have a letdown, you don’t abandon those things that made you successful in the first place. You stay true to those qualities.”