Welcome to the newest RWU Athletics weekly feature, Alumni Profiles. Here we will be featuring a former Roger Williams student-athlete and catching up with them on their career since graduating from RWU.
 
Our next entry comes from Carly Spagnola. Carly was a four-year member of the Women's Basketball team and graduated from RWU in 2011 as an Accounting major. Over the course of her career, she scored 508 points with 227 assists, 261 rebounds, and 85 steals and was a two-year starting point guard for the Hawks. In her senior year, she was selected as team captain and helped the team advance to the CCC Semifinals for the first time in ten seasons.
 

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What is your current job title and what does that entail?
I am an Associate Interior Designer and Real Estate Agent at Digs Design Company and Keller Williams Realty. I help sellers, buyers, renters, and landlords manage their real estate needs at Keller Williams Realty.
 
How did your athletic involvement at RWU help you in the path that you chose following graduation?
After graduation I followed my major and worked in Accounting for eight years. While my experience is accounting provided me with many valuable skills, I knew it wasn't the right path for me. Playing basketball made be highly aware that I needed to be in a path I was equally as passionate about. It wasn't until I went back to RWU to volunteer coach with Kelly Thompson again that I got the spark to change my path. Seeing the girls work hard day after day revived a passion in me that I knew I needed to follow. Soon after I enrolled in the Interior Designer program at Rhode Island School of Design. After working my day job in accounting, I would hop over to RISD for night classes. About a year into that I also started taking classes for my Real Estate license. Eventually I left accounting completely and became a full-time Real Estate agent and Interior Designer. Recently I landed my dream job at Digs Design Company in Newport, R.I. If I hadn't learned all the hard work and patience it takes to progress at something you love from basketball, I might not be here today, doing something I love again.
 
What would you say were your greatest athletic and academic accomplishments during your time at RWU?
Honestly just working at it every day is the biggest accomplishment in itself. It's things like the late-night bus rides home while working on your homework that most people don't see. Combining time management for your academics and working hard on the court every day and not giving one up to make the other easier is the hardest part of being a student-athlete.
 
Why did you choose to attend RWU?
I'm from a small town so I loved that RWU wasn't a huge school. You still felt like you had an identity there. It doesn't hurt that it's also on a gorgeous campus in a gorgeous area either.
 
What is your most fond memory of RWU Athletics?
There's too many to count. I came back to volunteer coach while having a full-time job just because I loved the atmosphere so much.
 
Were you involved in any extracurricular activities outside of athletics?
I was a part of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Freshman Relying On Senior Help (F.R.O.S.H.) Program, Hawk Leadership Academy, and One Love Foundation Event Facilitator/Group Leader.
 
What piece of advice would you have for current RWU student-athletes?
Don't wait! Don't decide in your junior year that you want to be great. Step out on day 1 and push yourself. The time will be gone before you know it and you don't want to look back and wish you had tried harder. This goes for both sports and academics. It's your attitude and drive that will shape you!
 

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Are you a former RWU student-athlete interested in being part of our Alumni Profile series? If so, please contact Athletic Communication Director at nwilliams@rwu.edu for more information!