For Halloween Chelsea used our “Trashy” trash bag dress idea as a quick, cute costume.
Chelsea Zeig, affectionally known as Ziggy on campus, is a remarkable person. The summer before her senior year she was invited to compete at the Maccabiah games in Israel for track and field. The Maccabiah games are an international Jewish event held every four years in Israel. It is often referred to as the “Jewish Olympics”. Not only is she an active member of the track and field team at Lasell, she is also a curriculum and instruction with sports major as well as a resident advisor. Currently, she is in the middle of her senior year at Lasell College with a very busy year ahead of her.
HC:You competed in the Maccabiah games over in Israel during the summer. What was the main thing you took away from the experience both being overseas and competing at this level?
CZ:When going overseas, I really did not know what to expect. I came back to the United States with a better understanding and renewal of my Jewish faith. Competing at his level wasn’t really anything different for me, at least I tried to think of it that way. If I thought of it as “I’m competing against the best Jewish athletes in the world,” then I probably would have choked. I just reminded myself that this meet was like any other meet, but just with people I don’t know yet. Going into my senior year, no matter how well I do, I’ll always have my Maccabiah experience. I did the unthinkable, which for me was just getting to Israel, and then on top of that not only get one medal, but three!
HC:What made you want to start track and field in the first place? How has this changed you?
CZ:I first started track and field in 10th grade when my varsity volleyball coach wanted me to do another sport to keep in shape. Back then, my life was surrounded by volleyball. I was a starter on the varsity team, I competed in travel teams in the off season and joined summer clubs, all for the sport of volleyball. In the beginning, it was a struggle because my high school track team was very much about running. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not a runner. The track and field coach put me into shot put and the overall technique came to me very easily. As I got older, I became better and I soon started to like it. Starting my freshman year at Lasell College, volleyball was my main concern, but during my sophomore year, I got a concussion and track then became my true passion. I think it was there all along, but it just took a strike to the head to figure that out.
When I first started track, all I thought was that I had to keep up with everyone, meaning sprint as fast as our county ranked sprinter and such. After the first day of asthma attacks, I soon found out that isn’t the case. If the sport of track and field has taught me anything, it is that, as people, we all go at our own pace. We go at a pace that works for us.
HC:You’re a Curriculum and Instruction major with a Coaching minor. Competing in the Maccabiah games with children of all ages, did you find anything to connect to your major?
CZ: Having a coaching minor, I was able to connect what I learned in my Strength and Conditioning class to my training and competing in the Maccabiah Games. I was given about six weeks to train and prepare myself for the biggest competition of my life. I took this course at the end of my junior year, perfect timing because what I had learned, I applied to my training, which consisted of mainly resistance workouts.
The summer of 2012, I coached for the Maccabi Games (similar to the Maccabiah games, the Maccabi Games take place every year for about a week, three times over the summer for Jewish kids ages 12-16 playing in about 15-20 different sports) and very quickly found out about how coaching is very much like teaching. I had a total of 10 girls on the volleyball team I coached; four girls from Israel and six girls from the states. Of my six American girls, three of them have never really played volleyball and of those three, two are Hasidic Jews. From the perspective of teaching, just like with any student, you have to start from scratch. Many of my education classes may not be geared towards sports, but definitely helped me when preparing for a practice session.
HC:Being on the track team, as well as a Resident Advisor and a senior how do you manage your time? What’s the best advice you can give to a student juggling a busy schedule?
CZ:As you had mentoned, I am a senior, co-captain of the track team, and a Resident Assistant. On top of that, I am also juggling the regular course load like any other student, around five or six clubs, two of which I am on E-board, and an internship. How do I manage a busy schedule? Chocolate. But really, I think about what is truly important. What is really important to me will come first and anything that comes secondary will be done when I have a free moment. If I’m lucky, I’ll have a spare moment to watch the latest episode of Glee or Biggest Loser, but only if I don’t have to do a lockout for a resident who forgot their keys.