Men's Soccer | August 28, 2019

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - WMUBroncos.com recently sat down with Overland, Kan., native and senior defender Jake DeJulio to reflect on his years at Western Michigan. 

While with the Broncos, DeJulio has been a two-time Academic All-MAC honoree and 2018 MAC Distinguished Scholar Athlete. Last fall he appeared in 18 games and tallied the game-winning assist versus UMBC. 

WMUBroncos.com: What is a hidden gem either in Kalamazoo or on campus? This is a place you love to go to, but you don't think many other people know about it. Why do you like it so much? 
Jake DeJulio: A hidden gem for me on campus has been the second floor of Waldo Library. I wouldn't say Waldo Library is necessarily a place many people don't know about, but in my opinion it's very underutilized by WMU students. Waldo Library is a great place to study, or relax. Additionally, it has many great resources for students. All in all, Waldo Library has been a great place for me to study and to focus on schoolwork in general.

WMUBroncos.com: What's next in life after Western Michigan? 
JD: What's next in life after WMU is a tough question to answer! My plan is that after I complete my M.B.A. in the spring, I will start working in the food and consumer packaged goods industry. I majored in food and consumer packaged goods marketing while at WMU. Hopefully, I will have a long career within the industry, getting to move all across America and living in many cities. I still haven't decided whether I want to focus more on the sales, analytics, or marketing side of things, but it's an exciting industry that is rapidly changing. Ultimately, my goal would be to have a family and settle down somewhere. However, I look forward to following WMU athletics and I hope to stay involved in the program for a long time to come.



WMUBroncos.com: What is your proudest academic achievement at Western Michigan? 
JD: My proudest academic achievement at WMU was graduating with my degree last spring with a 4.0 GPA. When I first started taking classes here, receiving a 4.0 GPA was never something I expected, but I always tried to give my best effort in every class I took. Once my junior and senior years rolled around and I still had a 4.0, I decided to dedicate myself to accomplishing this achievement. It took a lot of long days at the library, over preparing for tests and many coffee runs. However, in the end, once the final grades went through at the end of the semester, it was always well worth the effort I had to put in. At the end of the day, receiving a 4.0 was a culmination of hard work and determination. I am proudest of dedicating myself to something that meant a great deal to, me and proving to myself that I was capable of doing something like this.  

WMUBroncos.com: How did you get started in soccer and what made you fall in love with your sport? 
JD: I've been playing soccer for as long as I can remember. I come from a family of athletes. My dad played soccer at Hope College, my brother Eric played soccer at Creighton University and my brother Nick played college football at the Air Force Academy. Growing up, playing sports was practically a second religion for our family. A day never went by without my brothers and I playing sports from sun up to sun down, whether it was soccer, basketball, football or baseball. It seemed like we spent every minute outside. However, once I started to get older I played basketball and baseball competitively in addition to soccer, but soccer always came first. I love being part of a team. I love being a competitor. Soccer is a game that is a common language around the world. Additionally, soccer brings people together and is a game that is filled with highs and lows that put you through a full range of emotions. There is no feeling similar to scoring an important goal and celebrating with your teammates. It's a game I've always played and one I'll always stay involved in long after my time at WMU.

WMUBroncos.com: What does Western Michigan mean to you? 
JD: Western Michigan means many things to me as it has been my second home for the past four years. WMU is a place where I have succeeded, a place where I have failed, a place where I have grown and a place where I have learned. Coming from Kansas City to Kalamazoo for me has been a journey and WMU is a place where I have had to prove things to myself along the way. I have an immense amount of pride being a Bronco. I believe in everything this university stands for and offers to its students. As a student-athlete at WMU, I have always tried to represent the university and community in the most positive manner I can, because that's the type of people that the university/community deserves to represent them. Lastly, I will always think of the relationships I have created during my time at WMU and the people who have made my journey one to remember. 

WMUBroncos.com: What is a road trip memory you'll always have with you? 
JD: It's difficult to pick out one road trip memory, but one memory I will always have is our celebration that we had at West Virginia University in 2017, the year we went to the NCAA Round of 16. It was a conference game against a ranked WVU team that we needed to beat if we wanted to stay in first place in the MAC. It was a very close game that went to overtime. In overtime, Brandon Bye scored a game-winning goal on a set piece. Immediately after, our whole team belly slid on the middle of the field in celebration. Winning this game set the all-time record for wins in a season by a WMU soccer team, so once we entered the locker room after the game it was a madhouse. We sang the fight song as loud as we could, while everyone was getting drenched with water and Gatorade at the same time. Additionally, it was a win late in the season that kept our momentum going during a year that set new heights for the soccer program at WMU. It was a win you could tell meant more to everyone within the program.



WMUBroncos.com: What is one lesson Western Michigan soccer, or your teammates, have taught you that you'll carry with you long after you leave WMU? 
JD: One lesson I will carry with me long after I leave WMU is resiliency. As a student-athlete there are many, many times where things don't always necessarily go your way, or things are out of your control. As hard as you push for things to go perfectly, it never seems to be the case that things go exactly to plan. There are days where you have pick yourself up off the ground (both figuratively and literally sometimes), and just power through whatever challenge you're currently facing. During my time in college, what I have learned the most about is myself and the situations where I have had to be resilient are where I have learned the most about myself. All in all, the soccer program specifically at WMU has helped me develop as a person as much, if not more than just developing as a soccer player. Much of that credit goes to the coaching staff and athletic department and I am very grateful for it.

WMUBroncos.com: What do you want a team 20 years from now to look back at your career and know? 
JD: If a team looked back at my career 20 years from now, I would want them to look back and know that I got to be a part of one of the all-time greatest seasons in Western Michigan Athletics history across all sports. Finishing the 2017 season with a No. 9 national ranking and an NCAA Sweet Sixteen run moved our program to new heights. I hope the next generation of players can elevate the program even further. More personally, I would hope that I would be remembered as a hard working teammate who brought energy and enthusiasm every day. More importantly, a teammate who always put his teammates in front of himself. Additionally, even though I didn't grow up in the community or Michigan area, I always wore the WMU jersey with pride and never took the opportunity to represent the university/community for granted.

#WeWillReign