Built to last

As the shadow of the Byrd Stadium grandstand crept over the soccer practice field on North Campus last Thursday, Megan Gibbons looked out at the nearly empty expanse before her.

The Terrapins women's soccer team had finished practice almost 15 minutes before, and the players had made their daily retreat to the Varsity Team House to complete their post-practice routines of stretching, icing and ice baths.

As Gibbons spoke with a reporter, a solitary figure remained on the field almost 100 yards away, kicking a soccer ball off a wall as she wove her way through a maze of footwork and quickness exercises.

Lydia Hastings' work ethic has become a staple of the No. 18 Terps over her four years in College Park. Coach Brian Pensky described her as a "consummate pro," a player willing to come to practice early and stay late.

Yet in the throes of midterms, soccer's probably not even the Terps co-captain's biggest time commitment. When she's not refining the backline's schemes for shutting down some of the nation's top offensive players, Hastings is learning how to reinforce concrete and build foundations for buildings. A civil engineering major expecting to graduate in the spring, Hastings' classroom output rivals that of her performance on the field.

"I don't know how she does it," Gibbons said.

n FINDING A BALANCE

Hastings' unusual dichotomy began long ago as a kid in Rehoboth Beach, Del., where she first honed the skills that made her a good enough player to qualify for youth national team pools. Even as she dominated on the pitch, Hastings had another, more intellectual side.

"When I was younger, I did the whole Legos, Erector Sets, the whole thing," Hastings said. "I love to build and design. I've known I want to be an engineer since I was little. It's a perfect fit."

Now a Division I athlete, Hastings has been able to maintain both passions through a meticulously crafted schedule. But with a credit load that includes classes such as ENCE 441: Foundation Design ("critical review of classical lateral earth pressure theories") and ENCE 360: Analysis of Civil Engineering Systems ("systems approach and systems analysis in civil and environmental engineering"), balance is everything.

"I know when I'm going to do my homework," she said. "I know when everything's due. It all comes down to scheduling and getting everything done so I don't fall behind."

For Hastings, a typical Tuesday includes classes at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m., all before a two-hour practice that starts at 3 p.m. And after all that, there's the homework.

"A lot of it's pre-emptive stuff," Hastings said. "I don't really start homework right before the day it's due."

Instead, she will often do half of her homework three or four days in advance before finishing the rest a day or two before the class so she doesn't get behind in her work.

Road trips provide another hurdle for Hastings to work through. When the Terps took a five-day trip to Florida in mid-October to take on Florida State and Miami, she found herself with a test the day before the Terps left and tests on three consecutive days upon her return.

"That was really rough," Hastings said. "Away trips, it's all about not chilling on the bus rides. Not doing a ton of work, but getting enough done that I won't get really backed up later."

Dimitrios G. Goulias, Hastings' adviser for civil engineering for the past two years, has helped a number of student-athletes manage their academic careers with their athletic aspirations at this university. And Hastings, Goulias said, has done all the right things to succeed in both.

"They have to plan ahead," said Goulias, who described Hastings as a "go-getter" in the classroom. "They cannot wait until the deadline to complete their work or study for the exams. Eventually, they have to have good time management and work ahead of the time in order to try to do meet both aspects of it."

n IN THE CLASSROOM

Now in her eighth semester at this university, Hastings has had time to tailor her schedule to fit her many needs — but it hasn't always been so easy.

"She's had some tough semesters," Pensky said. "And even this semester, she came out to a training session a month ago and she had a little bit of a stoic look on her face. I was like, ‘What's going on?' And she's like, ‘I just got smacked with a ton of work in three different classes. I'm pulling all-nighters.' She was fearing she was going to hit a wall."