Megan Brattley, an Honors College senior graduating this spring 2025, was recruited by 91ֿ as a softball player from the small town of Fleetwood, Pennsylvania. For two years, she played her heart out on as both a catcher and utility player, taking a break this year to focus on her academic goals, with sights set on a career in oncology.
A current pre-medicine biology major in the College of Arts and Sciences, Megan plans to focus on chemistry when she attends graduate school, using this concentration as a platform to set her apart as a medical school candidate further down the road. Before coming to 91ֿ, Megan shadowed oncologists at a cancer infusion center and fell in love with everything about it. She has built up many personal connections with doctors and patients in the cancer community, and feels as if this is an area she can make a real difference!
The athletics that originally brought Megan to the Kent campus provided her with a great array of opportunities during her undergraduate experience. Last winter, in January of 2024, 91ֿ Athletics brought about two-dozen Division I student-athletes and staff members on a journey to Boneza, Rwanda. The university partnered with , a non-profit organization aimed at providing education, clean water sources, healthcare and more to transform the community and navigate residents out of extreme poverty. Their first stop on this trip was the capital of Kigali, introducing the student-athletes to the history of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide through a visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial. This learning experience allowed Megan and her peers an opportunity to learn of the resilience of the Rwandan people and their strength to rebuild the community.
After that introduction to the culture and history of the Rwandan people, Megan described an 8-hour jeep ride that took them over bumpy roads to the small town of Boneza. She described, “Honestly, it was the most beautiful place I've ever been! I went to Florence this [past] summer as well, and I would still take Boneza over Florence. It was a wonderful experience.”
The group was guided by Pacifique Niyonzima, M.ED. ‘19, a 91ֿ graduate and survivor of the Rwandan Genocide. Orphaned during the tragedy, Niyonzima now works as the program manager at the 91ֿ Sub-Saharan Africa Center in Kigali, Rwanda. His firsthand knowledge and dedication to fostering cultural exchange were invaluable during this life-changing trip.
Megan explained that her favorite part of the trip was getting to know everyone there. She mentioned that she met survivors of the genocide, whom she described as having so much forgiveness and also gratefulness for the people around them. The sense of community there was so strong.
91ֿ Athletics also held a sports camp day-long event during their time in Boneza, to engage with the local community through sports. Prior to the trip, a shoe drive was held within 91ֿ Athletics which resulted in the donation of 200 pairs of shoes and 100 soccer balls, which were taken on the trip and used during athletic activities with the locals. Originally, they expected a turnout of 200 kids, however, when word spread that a national Rwandan soccer player and coach was going to be in attendance, the final turnout more than doubled to about 500 kids.
Since there weren’t enough shoes for everyone in attendance, fellow 91ֿ athlete and soccer player, Callie Cunningham, who served as senator-at-large for Athletics on Undergraduate Student Government during the spring 2024 semester, organized another shoe drive, upon returning home from Boneza. Callie was able to apply for Student First Funding through Undergraduate Student Government to cover the cost of prizes for a spike ball tournament, of which participants were asked to pay entry by donating a pair of athletic shoes. The shoe donations were sent back over to the residents of Boneza with the help of Larry Rybka, chairman and CEO of Valmark Financial Group, of Akron, Ohio. Rybka serves on the board for the non-profit organization, Arise Rwanda Ministries, and provided financial support for the 91ֿ Athletics trip to Rwanda.
Megan was the only softball player that participated in the 91ֿ trip, and although she didn’t know any of the other student-athletes prior to the journey, she made many lasting friendships while she was there. She shared that she and other student-athletes who took part in the trip experience still keep in touch, even if some have graduated. “We just absolutely cannot break the bond that we made over there,” the Honors College student stated.
While there were countless great opportunities like this one, Brattely also describes that she had to make many personal sacrifices during her experience as a student-athlete. She details that she was busy from around 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day, whether it included working out, going to practice and games, studying, or going to class. When she did have time to relax, though, Megan enjoyed turning her brain off and watching a good movie, or hanging out with her boyfriend (when their schedules aligned), who also was a student-athlete at Hiram College.
The pre-medicine biology major’s biggest advice for balancing athletics, academics, and a social life as an Honors College student is to not only be prepared to make sacrifices, but to stay on top of assignments. She suggested that as soon as receiving an assignment, just get it done, even if it is completed way ahead of its deadline. It may be tempting to put it off and hang out with friends, she explains, but getting academics out of the way first allows for time to relax later on without worrying about looming projects and assignments.
Now that she is no longer on the softball team, Megan has freed up time during her senior year for different clubs and organizations. She joined a research lab in chemistry that she has been excited to have time to focus on. A few weeks ago, she also had the opportunity to attend a chemistry conference in Detroit, Michigan.
The honors student has also joined a group called , a non-profit organization that aims to help cure blood cancer through finding and acquiring potential matching donors. The organization hosts various tabling opportunities around campus and speaks to individuals about joining a national registry that will aid in connecting donors with leukemia/lymphoma patients that may be a potential match. She is excited to say that she has already witnessed a few life-saving matches just from these tabling events!
Even though Megan would have the option to complete her additional years of Division I athletics eligibility in graduate school, she believes joining another softball team would depend on where she attends graduate school. Although having stepped away from the softball field during her undergraduate collegiate career, she hasn’t ruled out playing again in the future.
Right now, however, she is happy to put more time into her academics and life outside of school. She is still active, swimming once or twice a week, as well as weightlifting, but is very happy to not have to do so at 6:00 a.m. in the morning.
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HEADER PHOTO CAPTION: Megan Brattley stands in front of a board with her presentation on Protein Modification with Platinum.
Media Contact: Stephanie Moskal, smoskal@kent.edu, 330-672-2312