Shockley Awarded Prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship
(INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.) – Carnegie Mellon University men's soccer senior Mason Shockley has been selected to receive an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship for excelling academically and athletically while showing leadership and commitment to the community. Twenty-one males and 21 females across all three NCAA divisions were chosen as recipients for fall sports.
Shockley is the fourth Carnegie Mellon men's soccer player to receive the scholarship and first since 2016. Shockley's athletic career concluded in November when the Tartans played in the 2022 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship First Round against Calvin University at Kenyon College. Shockley played midfield for the Tartans and appeared in 45 games, starting 23. He tallied two goals and two assists with his most impactful goal coming as the game-winner in overtime at Westminster College in 2021. Earlier this season, Shockley recorded the assist in the 1-0 win at 16th-ranked John Carroll University.
A chemistry major with a 4.0 grade-point average, Shockley has applied to medical school and is leaning towards the neurology field with interest in learning about all the specialties. Shockley was a student speaker at the CMU Student-Athlete Academic Achievement Celebration this year and was selected into Phi Beta Kappa. He has spent four semesters and two summers as an undergraduate researcher in CMU's Department of Chemistry under Dr. Anna Kietrys and received a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) and a CMU Small Undergraduate Research Grant (SURG). In the summer of 2022, Shockley was an intern with the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Since February 2020, Shockley has been an SI/EXCEL Leader with CMU Academic Development, first by receiving training his freshman year to lead sessions provided to students who want additional help in a given class. He has led sessions for Modern Biology and Physics II for science students and was promoted to an SI Mentor Leader to provide support to staff, assist in hiring, and promote inclusivity in the SI work environment.
Shockley has balanced his athletics schedule and classwork with volunteer time as a Front Podium Volunteer at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, greeting and escorting patients to their appointments for a few hours each week. He also participated in CMU's Global Medical Brigades and raised funds for 2020's spring break trip to set up a medical clinic in rural Panama that was unfortunately canceled. In 2021, he prepared and participated in a virtual clinic in Honduras.
The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship is awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically, and are in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition or have completed their athletic eligibility. The Association awards up to 126 postgraduate scholarships annually, 63 for men and 63 for women. This season's NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients (21 men and 21 women) represent fall sports participants, who will receive a one-time, nonrenewable grant of $10,000 to be used for graduate study within one year of the award. Men's fall sports sponsored by the NCAA include cross country, football, soccer, and water polo, while women's fall sports are cross country, equestrian, field hockey, rugby, soccer, triathlon, and volleyball.
The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship was created in 1964 to promote and encourage postgraduate education by rewarding the Association's most accomplished student-athletes through their participation in NCAA championship and/or emerging sports.