Vanessa McGowan, an 'M Club' Dean Smith Award recipient, is a notable Track and Field alum who had quite the career at the University of Maine. McGowan earned multiple accolades such as twelve varsity letters, captured multiple school records (she still holds the University record in the 800 meters), was an inductee into the University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame.

UMaine is a place where McGowan can always look back on memories and have a smile on her face. 

"The things that stand out when you look back are people and relationships. I mostly remember my teammates and my friendships there. Really you are a part of a family. Some of my other memories from Maine are the weather. I remember going for runs in a rip your face off wind, and I wouldn't have it any other way!" 

Being able to play a sport at UMaine is something special for McGowan. She always had a love for track and field and cross country. Having the chance to continue her passion of running at the collegiate level was important to her and the title of being a 'student athlete' she viewed as an important one. 

"It is an honor to be a student athlete to be able to represent your University in a way that others see as important to which gives you a sense of achievement. The comradery piece you can still have. But that sense of achievement is singular and different than other things later on in life. Sports in general have this ability to let you feel this sense of achievement that is hard to replicate as time goes on." 

McGowan explained that running is all about mindset. Even if you do not feel great during the run, you always feel amazing after. Runners always have a specific mind when they set goals for themselves. This attitude is something that helped McGowan become as accomplished as she is today. 

"My approach to things is less about goal setting and more about doing the best I can in that moment. I was always a hard worker and that was my focus. It was a singular mindset of mini goals for the day that needed to get done and it was about putting your head down and not necessarily giving up on getting those things accomplished. As those days of getting things done and completing your tasks accumulate then they eventually roll into something bigger.

Along with her athletic career, McGowan got her bachelors and masters degrees from UMaine and then moved on to complete medical school. Medical school was something that took a lot of patience and dedication. It certainly was no simple task but all of that hard work did however look familiar. 

"It was all very reminiscent of being a student athlete. That work ethic that comes with being a student athlete and the sacrifice piece became key. " 

She now works for a company in Sacramento as a practicing physician with a specialty that she loves. 

"My speciality is in physical medicine & rehabilitation. This focuses on optimizing people's functions, so it is very appropriate and very near and dear to my heart for someone who has long been interested in athletics and keeping people happy, functional, and active especially as we age." 

This speciality is not something McGowan always saw herself doing, but she is grateful that she found it. 

"A lot of times things work out for the best or maybe you make them work out for the best and for me it really did happen that way. I happened about this speciality, I didn't go into medical school knowing about it but on the backend I ended up being where I needed to be." 

McGowan is proud of her time both as an athlete and now as a medical professional. She has seen that the atmosphere that surrounds her at work is one that is similar to that of being a student athlete. 

"I was in an individual sport but it's still a team. This is something very applicable to life nowadays where I am an individual physician but I work in a small group. You really do have that same idea of pulling for each other like if someone is having a tough day and you offer to take a patient for them, try to offload and help each other as much as possible." 

Looking back on everything that UMaine has helped McGowan accomplish, she is thankful for all of her time spent at the University. It will always hold a special place in her heart and she knows the memories will last forever. If there was anything she wants student athletes now to know it is this: 

"Enjoy the time. Later on life can be such a grind and in University you have this amazing moment where you can have friendships and you can explore what you're interested in so enjoying it and having fun is the number one key thing."

The 'M' Club Dean Smith award is the most prestigious award presented annually to the top male and female student-athletes at the University of Maine. To be considered for this award, athletes are nominated by their coaches and must have demonstrated outstanding academic and athletic achievement, be of outstanding character and a contributor and leader within their community.

Since 102 University of Maine varsity letter winners gathered for the first meeting of the Graduate M Club in 1932, more than 13,000 recipients of the coveted "M" have joined the club. In the ensuing nine decades, each year hundreds of "M" winners pay their dues to become active members of the M Club and to help support current Black Bears.
For questions or to get involved in M Club activities, please contact Ashley Twombly '10, '12G, the Alumni Association liaison with the M Club, at (207) 581-1144.