GoYeo Storytellers: Heather Benway '25

Making a historical impact of significance is something most people are not afforded to do in their lifetime, but Oberlin College junior Heather Benway isn’t one of them. Recently becoming the first player in the history of the women’s soccer program to twice earn North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors, Benway’s record-breaking career almost never happened. 

Despite a successful high school career, she never envisioned playing college soccer - that is until she found Oberlin. After applying to a variety of schools - both small and large - a spring-break visit to campus helped her make the decision. 

A three-time All-NCAC selection on the pitch, Benway was also named to NCAC All-Decade Team earlier this fall. Having been lacing up the cleats and putting on the shin guards since she was five years old, Benway has produced 62 points on 23 goals and 14 assists in her Oberlin career. 

A neuroscience major from San Carlos, California, she is also a two-time all-conference performer in the long jump and truly cherishes her time with the track and field team. 

“Some of my best friends are on the track team,” she said. “While they are both team sports, the dynamic within them are certainly different, especially at practice as we have a lot more down time at track in between reps and that is when a lot of team bonding occurs.”

Between two sports and being in-season year-around, one may wonder how she has time for anything else but she credits the regimented schedule to her academic success as well. A member of the NCAC Academic Honor Roll and two-time College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selection, Benway has been busy crafting out her academic path.

“I initially thought it was pretty cool that Oberlin had a neuroscience major and now getting exposed to the global health aspect it has proven to me that I really want to work with people, especially with kids. Having that be more in the health sphere is what I see myself doing.”

For the past two summers, Benway has already been achieving her passion of working with kids, serving as a learning facilitator through the Big Lift Inspiring Summers program, which is based out of the San Mateo County Library system. Through that experience she has applied skills related to social-emotional learning, trauma-informed practices, and classroom management.

“It is essentially a summer school program to help bridge the gap for elementary school students and serves a lot of the underprivileged youth in the community where they can be engaged with academics and other activities,” she noted.  “It was a cool experience for me. I was basically like an assistant teacher in a first grade classroom.”

Benway will be gaining even more real-world experience in the spring semester as she is set to study abroad in Cape Town, South Africa.

“The program I am in has an aspect of volunteering and collaborating with the community so I am hoping to do something related to healthcare. The plan is to take those experiences along with my upcoming winter term work to connect everything together to get a full perspective on the differences between each country's healthcare system.”

Unfortunately, the journey to South America will cause Benway to forgo the upcoming track and field season, which she will certainly miss. 

“Track has been so rewarding to me, working with Coach (Ben) Wach, and the other people on the team,” she said. “To see myself go beyond what I thought I was capable of and continue to learn more each day.”

Once she returns back to campus next fall for her senior year, Benway is hoping to make her last year on the pitch and in the jumping pit her best one yet while also managing what she expects to be a heavy academic workload. 

While Benway still has plenty of time to break more records, take more classes, and immerse herself in all Oberlin has to offer, post-graduate life isn’t too far from her mind either. 

“Every semester and every year I can see my post-Oberlin life being more attainable, and while that can be a scary and stressful thing to think about, I feel like my time working closely with my professors, classmates, and teammates, while getting to know other people in my department has created a secure space for me and helped me feel better and more confident about what I know.”

From an essential walk-on to likely the hall of famer, Benway’s Oberlin story has been nothing short of remarkable and she wants others to experience the same joy.