Men’s Lacrosse Alumni Panel Hits Home For Current Gulls

BEVERLY, Mass. — In late February, Endicott men's lacrosse head coach Eric Hagarty '10 M'11 held an alumni panel to connect the program's current Gulls with their predecessors. The alumni panelists (listed below) shared their respective Endicott journeys, experiences post-graduation, and life advice among other topics with every member of the current team.

Endicott Men's Lacrosse Alumni Panelists

Eric Campbell (Wellesley, Mass.) '09 — Associate Director, Major Giving at Boston College
Shane Gallagher (Lowell, Mass.) '09 — Detective at the Tewksbury Police Department
Chris Janelle (Falmouth, Maine) '14 — Vice President at SRS Real Estate Partners
Ian Knechtle (New Canaan, Conn.) '15 — Advisor at Prosperian Wealth Management (private firm)
Carter Glenn (Underhill, Vt.) '17 — Medical Student at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Kenny Sturgess (Hampstead, N.H.) '17 M'18 — Senior Associate at Tuscan Village Salem

Three current Gulls, freshmen Ethan Cupples (Marshfield, Mass.) and Johnny English (Ridgewood, N.J.), and graduate student Kevin Morency (Beverly, Mass.), shared what they learned from the alumni panel with www.ecgulls.com.

Below are their respective answers, which are designated by their initials.

1) What did you learn from the event overall?

EC: I learned that even though some of the alumni had initially had plans to start their careers in another area of interest, specifically, if it veered away from the initial major they had in college, it is OK to switch your interest to do what you want. No matter if it is your major or not, networking and hard work will be the two propelling factors to get you to where you want to be.

JE: Overall, I learned that while a lot of the guys on the panel were able to get a degree in very competitive majors, they had to be very flexible to adapt to fields that they have never been in. Some of them changed their plan dramatically and others stuck towards their original track. But what was consistent throughout was a need to adapt quickly to new positions you have a new experience in.

KM: I learned about the value of networking and relationships, as well as perseverance when it comes to finding a job or career that you truly enjoy. Not all of our alumni initially ended up in positions that they thought they would be in after leaving Endicott. However, all of our alumni leveraged the relationships and connections they made at Endicott, during internships, and in their personal lives in order to find a place where they felt they belonged. It was reassuring for sure.

2) What advice did our alumni give you that will help now and later on down the road?

EC: I went up to Shane Gallagher specifically because he was a criminal justice major and went into the Marine Corps which is the exact path that I am on right now. His advice that he gave me was about how teamwork from Endicott lacrosse, to the Marines, to the police force is so important and the lessons that he has learned from each have been so valuable to him. 

JE: The alumni panel gave me a piece of advice that I thought was really interesting. One panelist shared advice about what to be doing while in between internship opportunities and jobs. He said that you not only should network, but you should also be reading and researching your next job interest or field of interest.

KM: One of my favorite pieces of advice that we received from our alumni was to never stop reading, learning, and being curious. As long as you're willing to put in the work and you genuinely want to learn and better yourself, people are going to want to help you out along your journey.

3) Why are events like this helpful to the program?

EC: These events are incredibly helpful to give some reality to our current team considering our alumni were in the exact same shoes years ago. Explaining to us that it is OK to not know what you want to do right now and giving guidance about their experiences, good and bad, and how they handled and overcame that will not only help us individually, but also as a team this season, and beyond.

JE: Events like this are important because they give kids like me a really interesting perspective where we get to talk to people that have already gone through that next part of their life that we are trying to navigate. Getting insight into what the next move or where to go next is really helpful for students trying to get internships. These events make students think about their own experiences and how they want to apply what they're hearing and being told to navigate starting their professional careers.

KM: As a fifth-year member of the men's lacrosse program, this was the first time we've done a panel like this with our alumni and I thought it was incredibly helpful and impactful. Student-athletes on our team were able to make connections with past alumni that otherwise might have never been made. Even more important, members of our team got to see and hear from guys who sat in their shoes and are now forging their own paths post-college. I think that experience caused some self-reflection and gave some much-needed perspective to the entire college experience. 

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(Photo Credit - Kayleigh Halasz '24)