By Tyler Borwhat
Jaden Field is an outstanding sophomore offensive lineman for the football team here at Western New England University. Growing up in Georgia, he says, “It was always a dream of mine to play football at the collegiate level.” Playing high school football in Georgia is extremely competitive as it sends hundreds of players to play in college each year. Lots of these players choose to commit to colleges in or around Georgia, but not Jaden. As a high school senior, he decided to move up north and come here to Western New England University.
His decision to attend Western New England University was influenced by his aunt, who is a native of South Windsor, Connecticut. As a kid, he and his sister would leave Georgia and stay with his aunt for most of the summer. Over this time, he became very familiar with the area, and it became a second home. He said, “I looked forward to spending the summer here and experiencing many different things from life in Georgia.”
Once it came time to start searching for colleges, he reflected on his summers in Connecticut. His aunt recommended Western New England to him, and he felt unsure. “The idea of spending most of my time a two-hour plane ride away from home was a very scary thought.” Spending summers here was one thing, but completely moving away from home was a tough commitment. Eventually, he made it to campus during the summer leading into his senior season, so I had to ask him about this experience. He said, “I instantly felt more comfortable with the idea of attending WNE after my tour. It was not what I was expecting. The campus was nice, and meeting with the coaches really made me feel like I could be a student-athlete here”. Although the campus tour made a very good impression on Jaden, it took a few months to make the difficult decision to move away from Georgia to attend WNE.
Ever since choosing to attend the university, Jaden has enjoyed the benefits of being a student-athlete. He can pursue his dream of playing college football while also obtaining a high-quality education from Western New England University. There are many benefits to being a student. “The school provides many resources such as the math and writing center that are extremely helpful with my courses. Most professors are also very helpful and genuinely care about their students,” Jaden said. Being a student here is something that he truly enjoys and takes pride in.
I decided to look further into Jaden’s two-year football career as a Golden Bear. As a freshman, he played in a lesser role due to a series of minor injuries he played through before being shut down by a knee injury. I asked him about the struggle of suffering multiple injuries and how it affected his first-year experience. He said, “The injuries were obviously physically demanding, but mentally it was more of a struggle. It was difficult adjusting to the new level of football as well as being away from home, while being injured.” After the season, he continued to recover from his knee injury. Jaden was expecting to be a part of the Golden Bears wrestling team but was unable to wrestle due to his knee. He said, “It was definitely depressing to have to sit out of a sport I’ve played my whole life because of one injury.” He continued to recover as he became a regular in the athletic training room.
Fast forwarding to his second season, Jaden was a regular starter on the golden bear’s offensive line. He started out playing very well until suffering another injury, but this time it was his wrist. His hand went into a cast as he sat out a game, unsure if he would play again this season. The following week his cast was wrapped with foam and ace bandages as it transformed into a soft club. When I asked him about playing with the club, he said, “At first, I didn’t think it would be a big deal until I got out there. Not having my hand made it so much harder to block anybody.” He eventually finished the season with the difficult task of playing with the club.
When asked about his overall experience at Western New England so far, Jaden said, “Overall, it has been great, especially being able to build relationships with my teammates as well as being a student here.” Hopefully, Jaden can continue to have success here at Western New England.
