Lizzy Nichols

Classroom

Nichols is a history and literature and history of art and architecture double concentrator at Harvard.  She has achieved a cumulative grade point average of 3.78 and will graduate from Harvard in May 2010. For the last two years, Nichols has earned a spot on the prestigious Academic All-Ivy League team.  In 2008, she was named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District team.  Nichols attended Columbia’s Paris program in art and urban studies last year and received a Weatherhead grant for thesis research in Morocco and Paris during the summer of 2009.

Character

A team captain of the Crimson in 2009, Nichols has overcome hip and head injuries at Harvard, forcing her to adjust the way she played the game while the injuries healed.  Remaining determined to help her team, Nichols did not miss any time on the field from those injuries and has started 49 of 52 Harvard games during the last three seasons.

Community

Nichols is on the board of a Harvard student-run non-profit organization called Circle of Women, which is committed to promoting women’s education in the developing world.  One project, entitled “Project Wonkhai,” involved the construction of a school for girls in Wardak, Afghanistan, which required raising $120,000 and working with local collaborators to oversee construction.  After the building was completed, Nichols, the web officer of the organization, helped raised money for school supplies, teacher training programs and vocational training.  Nichols and Circle of Women also spread awareness about the state of women’s education in the developing world and the impact an educated woman may have in society.  Nichols has also spent time volunteering with her teammates at a local pre-school, worked with Habitat for Humanity, organized soccer clinics for local children and participated in the Harvard Athletics Bench Press for Cancer.  She is currently helping the organization of the Goals4Leaders program, a project that will help raise funds for Coaches across Continents, a non-profit organization that uses the game of soccer to teach life and leadership skills in the developing world.

Competition

A three-time All-Ivy League selection, Nichols has been tabbed to the all-conference first team at defense the last two years.  As a junior in 2008, Nichols was named to NSCAA All-Northeast Region for the second year and was a Soccer Buzz All-Northeast Region pick in 2007.  Last fall, Nichols helped the Crimson win its first Ivy League title since 1999, as she scored on a penalty kick in double overtime in the final game of the season, sending Harvard to the NCAA Tournament.  She also has international experience, having been invited to the U.S. Under-23 National Team camp in 2009 and the Under-20 camp in 2008.