UMAC 10-Year Alumni Profile: Jon Bucklew, Wisconsin-Superior
Interview by Wisconsin-Superior Athletics Communication
Each Friday throughout 2018-19 as part of the “UMAC 10-Year Celebration”, the conference will highlight the people who have made an impact on the league and make it a special community to be a part of. This feature series focuses on UMAC alumni who have used their Division III experience following the conclusion of their careers.
Interview with Jon Bucklew, Wisconsin-Superior '18 - Bachelor of Science in exercise science with a double minor in sport management and coaching; four-year starter on men's soccer team, all-time leading scorer
Q: How did you end up at UW-Superior?
A: It was all part of the recruiting process. I had a few options in Division III at the time and one Division II school recruiting me, but it just didn’t feel right. I knew I wanted an opportunity that was going to put me in position to play right away. At that time UW-Superior wasn’t on my radar. In the fall of my senior year Coach Mooney contacted me and asked me to come up for a visit, which I agreed to. I got to campus and it felt right immediately. Coach Mooney is really authentic and I came away from the visit knowing exactly what I’d get out of the program if I came here. I committed in January and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made.
Now coaching, as I’m recruiting student-athletes I find myself saying some of the same things to them that he said to me. It’s the program’s authenticity that allows me to do it. I’ve gone through it and know exactly what they’ll get out of it as student-athletes coming in.
Q: You mentioned coaching and we’ll get to that in a moment, but talk about your other position on campus.
A: I’m a coordinator and counselor for the Upward Bound program at UW-Superior. Upward Bound is a service program for first generation high school students and low income high school students. Part of my job is to get to know them, know what’s going on in their lives and help them through some rough spots and be available to them. They’re first generation, so a lot of this is new to them and we’re here to help them through that and see all the possibilities that are out there.
The Upward Bound program has to cover certain topics for kids in order to maintain its grants, and we do that through a program called the Saturday Academy that I oversee. We help kids learn about things like emotional intelligence, leadership development, ACT and SAT preparation and professional development. We take them to businesses so they can see how things operate in the professional world and also take them to college tours so they can begin to see what is out there for them once they graduate from high school.
Q: What made work like this your desired career path?
A: I’m an exercise science major and this doesn’t fall there, but there are a lot of things we do in Upward Bound that make it a great fit for where I want to go. Eventually I would like to be an administrator, an athletics director or activities director at a high school or a college and this position is teaching me a lot of skills that I know I will need to do a job like that well. So it isn’t completely in my career path, but I think it is a really great fit for what I ultimately want to do in my life.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your work with Upward Bound?
A: I love seeing the optimism that comes from these kids, especially the juniors and seniors. The freshmen and sophomores have a lot of things going through their heads because this is all new to them, but the juniors and seniors are really starting to open their eyes to the possibilities that are out there. They’re first generation, so for a lot of them they had no idea that college would even be an option for them. To see the excitement in them begin to grow when they start to discover the different possibilities that are out there is really enjoyable.
Q: What skills and experiences did you gain as a student-athlete that have been most critical to success in your job and career thus far?
A: I think the biggest thing has been getting to know people and establishing relationships with people all over campus. I obviously wouldn’t be here at all if it wasn’t for Coach Mooney. And between he and Nick Bursik (Director of Athletics), they really helped me get into a position where I could continue to be on campus and work in a position that would help me gain skills to take the next step.
After that, there are all the little things that you learn throughout your time in school. There are leadership skills I developed over the years. There were classes, projects, and sports that helped me in my character development. They refined me as a person. They made me more aware of what I am as a person and what I need to work on. It doesn’t always seem like it at the time, but everything you do here serves a purpose and helps prepare you for where you want to go next.
Q: You’ve touched on some of this already, but what is the ultimate career goal for you?
A: Eventually I do want to go to graduate school and study sports management, and hopefully from there I get the chance to be in an administrative position. I enjoy being in the middle of things and working with so many different people. So, ultimately I want to be in an administrative position that will let me stay in sports and work with people.
Q: We talked briefly about coaching. This year you became an assistant coach with the men’s soccer team. Do you plan on pursuing coaching further?
A: For sure. I’ve always wanted to be a coach and be involved in that way. I’m really passionate about it. I enjoy all the things I’m doing with Upward Bound but coaching really has become a passion of mine. I think one part of that is I can really connect with the kids I’m coaching. I never went through a program like Upward Bound, so as much as I love working with them it is hard for me to connect with them in some aspects. With coaching, I’ve gone through it myself so it is really easy for me to relate to what they are going through day-to-day. It’s a great feeling for me to know that I’m having a positive impact on these people going through the program.
Q: Give us your favorite memory from your time as a Yellowjacket student-athlete.
A: It has to be the 2017 conference tournament championship. We worked four years toward that moment. Every season, every off-season you put your time in preparing yourself for that. For me personally it meant a lot because it helped fulfill a promise I made to Coach Mooney. I had promised him that I would help get his program to the NCAA tournament for the first time, and getting that and going through it with the other guys on the team, you realize that you are part of something bigger than yourself. You, your teammates and your coaches all have a special bond from going through all that. It’s so much more than statistics and wins and losses. All of it had such a great impact on my life, and that’s the feeling I want others to have, through Upward Bound and through coaching.
I think a great way to describe it is by saying the journey is the destination. In other words you get more out of working toward something than through the end result.
Q: What was your favorite academic experience in your time at UW-Superior?
A: I think there are two. There was the Organization and Administration class that I took with Dr. Jay Johnson and then the Emotional Intelligence class with Randy Barker. These two courses really helped me develop as a person. One of them really guided my professional path, and the other really guided my personal path. These two classes really directed me so I knew where I could maintain and where I needed to grow my character. These two courses really had a big impact on me.
Q: What advice would you give to current UMAC student-athletes?
A: Appreciate the opportunity. Too often I think we take things for granted. I did an internship with Courage Kenny and when you do things with people who have challenges you begin to realize how lucky we are to be able to do what we do. It’s so much more than kicking a ball or swinging a bat. It’s more than statistics. It’s more than all that. It’s a great opportunity at a great time in your life so don’t take a single second for granted. And don’t blink. Before you know it, it’s gone.
UMAC 10-Year Celebration Website