This Honors College student-athlete excels on and off the field

As a freshman, George Mason University Honors College student Marley Oare chose the Global Affairs Program because she pictured herself working for the CIA or the United Nations.

That quickly changed when she took a natural science course in her first semester.

She recalls wondering how she could incorporate her new interest in the environment into her major. Fortunately, global affairs is an interdisciplinary major offering several concentrations. Oare chose to add the environment concentration to her degree program, which allows global affairs majors to take 12 credits in environmental science and/or policy classes or take a semester at the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC).

"The biggest thing I learned from that class was how interdisciplinary environmental science is," she said. "Learning how I can contribute to conservation was cool to me because we do need more than just scientists. That's what I have really loved about the Global Affairs Program-it provided me so much flexibility that I was able to focus on what I enjoy while still working toward my degree."

That flexibility also helped Oare as a student-athlete. During the past four years, Oare was a pole vaulter for George Mason's indoor and outdoor women's track and field teams. This past winter, she landed on the podium at the Atlantic 10 Indoor Track and Field Conference Championships, finishing third in the pole vault. It was the culmination of hard work for Oare, who didn't begin pole vaulting until high school and walked on to the George Mason team.

Her freshman year in 2023, she cleared the bar at 10 feet, 6 inches. This past January, she set a personal best with a jump of 12 feet, 6 inches-a two-foot improvement over three years.

"Those kinds of margins are pretty remarkable," George Mason track and field head coach Andrew Gerard said. "We knew that, if Oare performed at her capabilities, she'd be a very strong contender for a podium finish and that came to fruition."

An Honors College student, Oare has balanced the heavy workload of classes, internships, and jobs, with practices, track meets, and the travel that comes with it. The hard work has come with recognition. This past spring, she was named a Peter N. Stearns Provost Scholar Athlete for the third time. The Provost Scholar-Athlete Award recognizes student athletes who have achieved a cumulative grade point average of 3.75 or higher with at least 38 credit hours.

"She's always been good at planning her classes and her work ahead of time and charting out a plan to take high-level courses," said Oare's advisor Matthew West, an associate professor in the Global Affairs Program. "Her success in the classroom has made the work she's done juggling her training and competitions as a student-athlete all the more impressive."

Looking forward, Oare wants to work for an environmental nonprofit after graduate school. Her preferred field is marine biology, but she is also interested in wildlife conservation, grasslands, and forestry.

Her passion for nonprofits has been spurred by past internship experiences in both high school and college. She worked with the PATH Foundation, which provides grants and programs for organizations in Fauquier, Rappahannock, and Culpeper counties.

Through the PATH Foundation, she was placed in an internship with Just Neighbors, a nonprofit that supports low-income immigrants in Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties with free or reduced legal services. Oare said those relationships, along with learning in the Global Affairs Program about the importance of indigenous communities to environmental sustainability, have showed her how local progress can influence global issues.

She's working her way toward that goal. After completing her bachelor's degree in global affairs with a minor in Spanish in May, Oare is headed to the University of Rhode Island to work on a master of environmental science and management with a specialization in conservation biology. She will use her fifth year of NCAA eligibility to compete on the women's track and field team at Rhode Island.

"I think community-driven solutions are the best way to solve community problems," she said. "That's why I really want to get into environmental nonprofit work. I think the smaller organizations, because they understand so well what the community needs, are the best way to solve those problems. Local representation is so important."