During her gap year between undergrad and law school, Mel used the fall cross-country season to obtain her NCHSAA coaching certification and volunteer as an assistant cross-country coach at a nearby high school. Her long time running mentor, Coach Charlie “Choo” Justice, encouraged her to explore the sport from a new perspective, and she hasn’t looked back since! While serving as an assistant high school cross country coach, Mel trained for a trail marathon to stay humble and deepen her connection with the sport. She resolved to pursue future opportunities to utilize her mentorship and leadership abilities in order to inspire athletes’ development of a healthy mentality towards competition, goal-setting, and general fitness. Following the cross country season, Mel hopped on a plane to Perú to serve as a volunteer coordinator with Seeds of Hope-Perú, where she was able to train at altitude as well as inspire younger student-athletes to pursue their academic and athletic goals.

After her return from Perú, Mel matriculated to law school at the University of Miami School of Law. During the first few weeks of pure academia, she realized that she missed coaching and spoke with the Miami Hurricanes cross-country coach to inquire about volunteering with the team. Shortly thereafter, she started working with the varsity distance squad as a graduate student-manager. In that capacity, Mel mentored collegiate student-athletes by sharing her personal experiences as a former collegiate student-athlete and showcasing a positive attitude towards the sport--even at 6:00 AM after frequent late-night study sessions. Moreover, Mel served as both academic and athletic inspiration for undergraduate student-athletes at the University of Miami.