When Annie Judge was finishing her early childhood education degree during the 2021-22 academic year, she worked as a student teacher for a third grade class at Alexander Adaire Elementary school in Fishtown. At the same time, the former field hockey standout also began working in the Temple Resnick Academics Support Center as an academic coach.
She was initially set on teaching in early childhood education, but Judge began to rethink her future as she continued working with student-athletes at the college level. She knew she wanted to use her extra year of eligibility to play field hockey, but wasn’t sure of her path after graduation.
In a year that started with so much uncertainty, Judge ended up having her best season on the field during her senior year while finding the direction she needed off the field. She turned to former academic advisor and current director of the Resnick Center Tara Evans as she contemplated her post-graduate decision.
Evans’ path was similar to Judge’s; she spent her college days as a swimmer at Syracuse before shifting to academic coaching. She served as Judge’s academic advisor during Judge’s time as a student-athlete, helping her a considerable amount while she was a student, Judge said.
Judge met with Evans weekly to make sure she was on top of her schoolwork, and the pair developed a strong relationship. Judge turned to Evans while struggling to figure out her next steps during the extra year of eligibility she gained following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Through conversations and trying to figure out what she liked and didn’t like, she came to the realization that this could be a career path for her,” Evans said. “She saw a lot of what it looked like through our meetings and our relationship and she realized that this could be a really good fit for her.”
After her experiences with Evans and the Resnick Center, Judge quickly realized she was deadset on pursuing opportunities in higher education.
“After working in the Resnick Center as an academic coach, I ended up getting my masters here for higher education,” Judge said. “I grew my caseload from three students to five or six students and I really started to spend a lot of time in [the Resnick Center] and it really piqued what I wanted to do and hit my interests.”
Judge moved from an academic coach to a Learning Support Services intern at the Resnick Center during her fifth year on North Broad and her caseload of students grew. Throughout that period, she became clued in on the process of being an academic advisor, presenting her with a clear career path.
Judge knew she wanted to continue to work at Temple once she finished her master’s degree. The Associate Academic Advisor position opened up shortly after, and she decided to apply despite not fully knowing what to expect.
“There were a lot of things she had on the academic side as well as the athletic side, knowing she has been through the experiences of student athletes before,” Evans said. “Those two things made her a really nice fit for the position, and we are excited to have her.”
The newest advisor in the Resnick Center continued to thrive on the field while getting comfortable in her new role off of it. She started all but five games in her career while donning the Cherry and White and finished 10th in the country in assists in her final year while guiding the Owls to their best record since 2014.
Judge was named to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I National Academic Squad in each of her first four years in the program. She was also named to the Temple President’s Honor Roll for having a 3.5 GPA or higher in her sophomore year.
“It’s definitely a learning curve coming in,” Judge said. “I remember my freshman year being extremely overwhelmed with a full caseload starting the season off right away. Definitely my freshman and sophomore year, my grades were a little bit lower than they were. It’s definitely a learning curve is what I tell all of my students when you come in freshman year.”
Her time as a student-athlete has been invaluable to both Judge and the students she works with. When Judge was hired for her current role, she quickly went from a caseload of six students to suddenly being the academic advisor for the entire Lacrosse and Men’s Soccer teams.
She has weekly meetings with underclassmen and coaches while checking in with upperclassmen. Judge uses her experience as a player to help make younger athletes’ transition to college much easier.
“[Judge] has been in this spot before, being a student athlete, so she knows how stressful it can be with practices and classes,” said Temple Lacrosse attacker Laura Conner. “She helps us find the best class times because she understands the stress of getting from class, to back home then back to class.”
The tips and tricks Judge picked up during her five years of being a student-athlete have helped create a seamless transition into the office. Judge has been in the higher education field for just a year, but she feels like she’s already found what she wants to do: impact the lives of others.
“I think the support that Temple gives to the student-athletes and our student-athlete department is incredible,” Judge said. “I wanted to be a part of that to help other student athletes the way [Evans] helped me.”
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