{"id":11081,"date":"2013-09-16T10:00:17","date_gmt":"2013-09-16T14:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/?p=11081"},"modified":"2013-09-16T10:00:17","modified_gmt":"2013-09-16T14:00:17","slug":"a-focus-on-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/16\/a-focus-on-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"A Focus on Goals"},"content":{"rendered":"

For University of Mary Washington senior David Heller, playing a sport seems to be in his genes.<\/p>\n

In fact, Heller jokes that he started playing soccer, \u201cprobably right about when I could start walking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"David<\/a>
David Heller earned UMW’s Male Scholar Athlete of the Year Award as a junior.
Photo by Kimmie Barkley ’14<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His mother starred in volleyball and his father played football, basketball and ran track. Adding to the athleticism, his brother currently plays lacrosse and his sister plays field hockey.<\/p>\n

Beginning young in his family of athletes helped secure him a frequent starting defensive position as a UMW freshman. \u00a0Last spring, as a junior, he earned the Male Scholar Athlete of the Year award, a title traditionally reserved for a senior. Heller was only the second junior to receive the award since its establishment at UMW in 1990.<\/p>\n

The scholar athlete award recognizes the varsity upperclassmen that excel academically and athletically. To earn the award, student athletes must keep at least a 3.3 cumulative grade point average and contribute greatly to the success of their team, according to UMW Sports Information Director, Clint Often.<\/p>\n

Heller\u2019s soccer coach, Jason Kilby, said Heller won the award because off his \u201cextremely high GPA\u201d and his strong athleticism.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very well-rounded,\u201d Kilby said.<\/p>\n

For Heller, soccer<\/a> is something inherent and comfortable, but he came to UMW without a guaranteed spot on the team which already had established junior and senior defenders.<\/p>\n

Despite initially being told he may not have a lot of playing time, after preseason ended he wound up starting in 85 percent of the games as a freshman.<\/p>\n

While he started as a freshman among upperclassmen, he felt comfortable in his new role.<\/p>\n

\"Heller<\/a>
Heller has played on UMW’s varsity soccer team since he was a freshman.
Photo by Clint Often.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t really say I\u2019m the nervous type,\u201d he said, \u201cSoccer is soccer. A lot of other people were bigger and faster than me, but there are ways around that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before college, Heller played for the same travel soccer team in Alexandria through high school and still stays in touch with his travel team, which ranked in the top five Virginia travel teams during his stretch.<\/p>\n

While, as a defender, he manages to score winning goals, like in last year\u2019s semifinal game against Salisbury University which advanced the team to the championship in double overtime, he also holds a 3.5 GPA.<\/p>\n

Men\u2019s soccer coach Jason Kilby said he always uses Heller as a positive \u201cpoint of reference,\u201d even though it may embarrass him.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor [David] to be able to manage his time and do well\u2026it\u2019s pretty impressive,\u201d Kilby said of Heller\u2019s ability to balance school and athletics.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe strives for excellence in the classroom and on the field,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A business<\/a> and computer information systems<\/a> double major with a minor in economics, Heller also manages to tutor classmates in all three subjects.<\/p>\n

Over the summer, he worked as an intern with Fannie Mae in Washington, D.C., and was offered a job after graduation, which he is currently considering.<\/p>\n

\"Heller<\/a>
Heller is a business and computer information systems double major with a minor in economics.
Photo by Kimmie Barkley ’14<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Heller\u2019s approach to school is simple and focused, and he has a firm grasp on how to manage academics and soccer at the same time. Paying attention in class is most important, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really don\u2019t like to waste my time, I\u2019m here to learn; it\u2019s what I\u2019m paying for,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When he\u2019s not focusing in class, Heller plays soccer because he loves the game. There is one exception\u2014he does not like to lose.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s because I hate losing or because I don\u2019t like\u2026seeing [my teammates] upset as well,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

After a loss, he makes the best of it. \u201cI try and bring everyone up, I try and bring myself up, [and] try and fight back as best we can,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In Kilby\u2019s two years of coaching Heller, he said Heller has \u201cprogressed as a team leader,\u201d and leads by example on and off the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a great role model for all of our student athletes at UMW,\u201d Kilby said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Heller ’14 excels on and off the soccer field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":11091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[65,53],"class_list":{"0":"post-11081","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-show","8":"tag-alumni2014","9":"tag-athletics","10":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Focus on Goals - Great Minds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/16\/a-focus-on-goals\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Regina Weiss\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/16\\\/a-focus-on-goals\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/16\\\/a-focus-on-goals\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Regina Weiss\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a3553bfe80404a9651f181d527cf009f\"},\"headline\":\"A Focus on Goals\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-09-16T14:00:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/16\\\/a-focus-on-goals\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":742,\"commentCount\":7,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/16\\\/a-focus-on-goals\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/David-Heller_featured.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"alumni2014\",\"athletics\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Show on Great Minds\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/16\\\/a-focus-on-goals\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/16\\\/a-focus-on-goals\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/16\\\/a-focus-on-goals\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Focus on Goals - Great Minds\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/16\\\/a-focus-on-goals\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/16\\\/a-focus-on-goals\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/David-Heller_featured.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-09-16T14:00:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a3553bfe80404a9651f181d527cf009f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/16\\\/a-focus-on-goals\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/16\\\/a-focus-on-goals\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/16\\\/a-focus-on-goals\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/David-Heller_featured.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/David-Heller_featured.jpg\",\"width\":4288,\"height\":2048},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/16\\\/a-focus-on-goals\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Focus on Goals\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/\",\"name\":\"Great Minds\",\"description\":\"University of Mary Washington\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a3553bfe80404a9651f181d527cf009f\",\"name\":\"Regina Weiss\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/307c1da4b75ce588b968f60260f6e81b0826ad091bb6649f6223c23df54bd667?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/307c1da4b75ce588b968f60260f6e81b0826ad091bb6649f6223c23df54bd667?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/307c1da4b75ce588b968f60260f6e81b0826ad091bb6649f6223c23df54bd667?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Regina Weiss\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/author\\\/rweiss\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Focus on Goals - Great Minds","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/16\/a-focus-on-goals\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Regina Weiss","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/16\/a-focus-on-goals\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/16\/a-focus-on-goals\/"},"author":{"name":"Regina Weiss","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#\/schema\/person\/a3553bfe80404a9651f181d527cf009f"},"headline":"A Focus on Goals","datePublished":"2013-09-16T14:00:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/16\/a-focus-on-goals\/"},"wordCount":742,"commentCount":7,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/16\/a-focus-on-goals\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/09\/David-Heller_featured.jpg","keywords":["alumni2014","athletics"],"articleSection":["Show on Great Minds"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/16\/a-focus-on-goals\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/16\/a-focus-on-goals\/","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/16\/a-focus-on-goals\/","name":"A Focus on Goals - Great Minds","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/16\/a-focus-on-goals\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/16\/a-focus-on-goals\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/09\/David-Heller_featured.jpg","datePublished":"2013-09-16T14:00:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#\/schema\/person\/a3553bfe80404a9651f181d527cf009f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/16\/a-focus-on-goals\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/16\/a-focus-on-goals\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/16\/a-focus-on-goals\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/09\/David-Heller_featured.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/09\/David-Heller_featured.jpg","width":4288,"height":2048},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/16\/a-focus-on-goals\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Focus on Goals"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/","name":"Great Minds","description":"University of Mary Washington","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#\/schema\/person\/a3553bfe80404a9651f181d527cf009f","name":"Regina Weiss","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/307c1da4b75ce588b968f60260f6e81b0826ad091bb6649f6223c23df54bd667?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/307c1da4b75ce588b968f60260f6e81b0826ad091bb6649f6223c23df54bd667?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/307c1da4b75ce588b968f60260f6e81b0826ad091bb6649f6223c23df54bd667?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Regina Weiss"},"url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/author\/rweiss\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/09\/David-Heller_featured.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}