Jasmine Williams: From Collegiate Softball to Research in Trauma and Resilience
Jasmine Williams' journey is a testament to resilience, determination, and the power of support. From her achievements as a softball player to her current pursuits in research, Williams' story is one of overcoming challenges and inspiring others. This article explores her experiences in collegiate athletics, her transition to motherhood, and her dedication to academic research, particularly within the field of trauma and resilience.
Early Athletic Success and the Unexpected Turn
Before becoming Jasmine Williams, she was known as Jasmine Sievers, a rising star in Oregon's softball team. As a freshman shortstop, she earned first-team All-Pac-12, Pac-12 All-Freshman, and Pac-12 All-Defensive honors. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, while at home in Mission Viejo, California, the then 20-year-old discovered she was pregnant. This unexpected turn led to significant changes in her life and career.
Balancing Motherhood and Athletics
After giving birth to her son, Zee Brysen, in April 2021, Williams moved to Lansing, Michigan, to be with her husband, Zee Williams, who chose to end his football career to support their family. The couple married that September and navigated the challenges of parenthood in a small apartment. Despite these changes, Jasmine remained connected to her Oregon team and continued her coursework virtually.
Her husband, Zee, played a crucial role in her decision to return to softball. "He will give me so much credit, but if it wasn't for my husband, I wouldn't have come back and played at all," Williams said. With Zee's support, she gradually worked her way back into shape, starting with weightlifting and treadmill workouts, and eventually progressing to daily batting cage sessions. "He's literally behind everything, just supporting me and helping me navigate through that part of life," she said. "He's so young, but he's so wise beyond his years with just how he communicates."
Overcoming Online Hate and Finding a New Home at UCF
While balancing motherhood and her return to collegiate softball, Williams faced online hate. "It felt like everyone went against me. I was getting so many hate DMs," she said. The online negativity, combined with the struggles of being a mother, wife, student, and athlete, often brought her to tears.
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Seeking a better fit for her and her family, Williams decided to transfer. She found a welcoming environment at the University of Central Florida (UCF), where Coach Bear and her new teammates embraced her and her son. "Truth be told, she helped me more than I could have ever helped her. I got to come to her, not just as her player, but mom to mom," Williams said of Coach Bear. "We got to have conversations so much deeper than softball, and we talked about our marriages."
On her first day at UCF, her teammates gifted her son a UCF shirt and candy, and they often played with him during practices. Williams earned a starting position for the Knights and contributed to the team's success, including winning the 2023 All-American Athletics Conference tournament. She was also named to the All-AAC Second Team and All-AAC Tournament team.
Sharing Her Story and Inspiring Others
Williams used social media to share her experiences as a young mother and student-athlete. Through name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals, she earned money to support her family. More importantly, she aimed to inspire others by showing that it is possible to pursue one's dreams despite challenges.
"Sharing my story has helped a lot of people be less afraid or scared when they do find out they are pregnant," she said. "If you want to go back and play sports, you can." Williams graduated from UCF with degrees in sociology and interdisciplinary studies, leaving behind a distinguished softball career.
Academic Pursuits and Research Interests
Beyond her athletic achievements, Jasmine Williams is deeply involved in academic research. She is a 4th-year doctoral student in Applied Developmental Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education. Her research focuses on how adolescents’ experiences in school impact their educational and developmental outcomes. Specifically, she is interested in:
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- The developmental and motivational consequences of instructional interactions.
- Psychologically safe spaces for learning.
- Adolescent identity development.
- Educational equity and achievement.
Williams received a B.S. in Psychology and a B.S. in Human Development from Virginia Tech. Before graduate school, she served as an AmeriCorps volunteer with City Year Washington D.C.
STEPS Laboratory and Trauma Research
While the provided text doesn't explicitly state Jasmine Williams' direct involvement with the STEPS (Stress and Trauma Evaluation and Prevention Science) Laboratory at the University of Memphis, it does provide valuable context about the lab's mission and research focus. The STEPS Lab aims to prevent trauma exposure and improve treatments for trauma survivors through innovative research. The lab conducts both laboratory and community-based studies on a range of topics related to trauma-related mental health problems, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and prolonged grief disorder.
Several students and researchers associated with the STEPS Lab have presented their work at conferences such as ISTSS (International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies) and ABCT (Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies). These presentations cover topics such as reward sensitivity and trauma-related psychopathology, as well as the impact of trauma on emotional regulation and psychopathological outcomes.
New research from the STEPS Lab suggests that perceived emotional security within the family is an important predictor of young adults' adjustment to the death of a sibling, part of a larger project assessing sibling bereavement among young adults. The UMKC STEPS Lab presented preliminary results from ongoing studies on risk and resilience factors associated with traumatic grief and loss.
Adrianna Valencia, a student in the Clinical Psychology doctorate program at the UoM, focuses her research on social determinants of health among marginalized and underrepresented populations. Autumn Parson, another student in the program, examines the relationship between systemic inequities and racial trauma, with a focus on how stress and trauma influence the parent-child relationship. Jon-Patric Veal's research interests include adapting clinical interventions for underserved Black populations and reducing clinician bias. Emily Velandia's master’s thesis explored the implications of trauma, recalled emotion socialization, and current emotion regulation for emerging adult psychopathology.
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The STEPS Lab's work highlights the importance of understanding and addressing the complex factors that contribute to trauma-related mental health problems, as well as the potential for interventions to promote resilience and healing.
Key Contributors to the Field of Educational Psychology
The provided text also includes information about various individuals and their research interests within the field of educational psychology. These researchers are exploring a wide range of topics, including:
- Motivation and Self-Regulation: Research focuses on student motivation and self-regulation, particularly in overcoming learning difficulties.
- Learning Strategies in STEM: Focuses on learning strategies and instructional methods for promoting understanding in STEM, especially within multimedia learning environments.
- Educator Learning and Game-Based Learning: Research interests include educator learning across settings, the design and play of games, and mobile learning.
- Language and Literacy Development: Studies how language and literacy skills are developed in early childhood education programs.
- Online Learning and Self-Regulation: Research interests revolve around learning processes in online learning, focusing on self-regulation and teacher effect.
- Motivation and Instruction: Investigates how motivation and instruction influence learning outcomes, with a focus on differentiating cognitive and motivational processes.
- Digital Technologies and Learning: Explores how people learn through digital technologies and how to support educators in teaching with these technologies.
- Collaborative Learning: Examines the interactions of children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development in collaborative learning contexts.
- Mathematical Interactions with Technology: Focuses on children's mathematical interactions with technology, particularly virtual manipulative touchscreen tablet apps.
- Second Language Literacy and Technology: Research interests include second language literacy and the use of technology in language learning and teaching.
- Educational Equity and Technology: Focuses on educational equity, technology and literacy education, and educational program evaluations.
- Classroom Motivation: Research interests focus on classroom motivation, particularly the experiences of students with disabilities in inclusion science classrooms.
- Psycho-Social Factors and Learning: Assesses the influence of psycho-social factors on student learning outcomes.
- Formative Assessment: Interests include topics in formative assessment, cognitive, affective, and motivational processes, and validity issues in measurement.
- Pre-Service Teacher Motivation: Focuses on the motivations of pre-service teachers and their commitment to the education field.
- Native American Education: Developed an interest in Native American education after volunteering at a charter school for Native American students.
- Social-Psychological Interventions: Studies the effects of social-psychological interventions in educational contexts.
- Text Processing and Relational Reasoning: Research interests include prior knowledge activation, text processing, and relational reasoning.
- Scaffolding Complex Texts: Research focuses on how teachers scaffold adolescents' access to complex texts.
- Self-Regulated Learning and Metacognition: Investigates how college students monitor in classroom contexts.
- Problem-Based Learning: Focuses on the impact of problem selection and presentation in K-12 problem-based learning environments.
- Body-Based Resources and Reasoning: Research has focused on how body-based resources, such as actions and hand gestures, facilitate students’ mathematical and scientific reasoning.
- Motivation-Focused Interventions: Studies the educational applications of students’ motivation and develops brief motivation-focused interventions.
- Instructional Practice and Context: Interested in how teachers' efforts to align their instructional practice with aspects of their context to create better opportunities for all students.
- Learning Processes and Emotional Appraisals: Does work on learning processes, emotional appraisals, and cognitive strategies that students use in various learning environments.
- Misconceptions of Educational Psychology: Research focuses on deeply held misconceptions of educational psychology among pre-service teachers.
- Metacognition and Reading Comprehension: Research interest is in instructions based on Metacognition, Reading Comprehension and Social Interdependence applied in elementary grade classrooms.
SportsEpreneur: Amplifying Voices in Sports
The provided text also introduces SportsEpreneur (SportsE), a sports media brand and production company that covers NIL (Name, Image, Likeness), sports media, entrepreneurship, commentary, and mental health. SportsE creates articles, podcasts, and multimedia content to make the sports world easier to understand.
SportsE's mission is to use sports as a universal language to highlight voices, explore ideas, and build community. The company believes that sports bring people together and that content can open doors, spark conversations, and foster connections.
Key people at SportsEpreneur include:
- Eric Kasimov: Founder/CEO, who believes that every entrepreneur should have their own content platform.
- Shane Snively: Finance | Content and Brand Strategist, known as The Strategy Addict.
- Scott Upton: Tech Guru, who believes that anything can be done if you put your mind to it.
- Julian Virag: Podcast Editor, focused on delivering clear sound.
- Caroline Ailanthus: The Word Smith, who improves the flow and readability of text.
- Lisa Bonta Sumii: SE Contributor | Podcast Host, a mental health therapist and the CEO and Founder of AthMindset, LLC.
SportsEpreneur provides a platform for athletes, entrepreneurs, and creators to share their stories and connect with a wider audience.
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