Soccer Shapes CMU Experience for William Rabon

Carnegie Mellon University Professor John Woolford invites students to imagine their dream career and combine it with their understanding of RNA translation pathways to create an art project.

Men's soccer captain William Rabon brought his A-game to the task. Rabon, accustomed to hearing commentators describe his own actions on the pitch, blended his love of the sport with his passion for science.

"Each component or factor in the pathway was a different 'player,' and each action they took was a different play with different components all working together to carry out the complex sequence," said Rabon, a senior in neuroscience who played midfield for the Tartans.

Woolford praised his approach.

"Will's presentation was really fun and really clear," Woolford said. "He displayed a tremendous ability to understand a very complicated problem and explain it to others in a very clear way."

Rabon has made a career at Carnegie Mellon as a leader capable of guiding peers to new understandings. He not only led the men's soccer team to a 7-6-4 overall record this year, but also directed the Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) through efforts to deepen connections among student athletes and the Pittsburgh community.

In high school, Rabon lived on his own to compete for Vardar Soccer Academy about three hours from his home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Neighbors in his apartment complex made sure he had meals, felt safe and knew how to get himself between school and soccer commitments.

Rabon said he knew he would continue his soccer career after high school. But what mattered to him was selecting a university that would prepare him to continue building community. Intrigued by the pre-med track in Carnegie Mellon's Health Professions Program, Rabon started his first year at CMU in the fall of 2020.

At the time, students were learning virtually. When in-person courses reopened in the spring semester of 2021, Rabon moved to Pittsburgh and lived with six other players from the soccer team. After years of living alone, he said the experience felt overwhelming.

"I was struggling to adapt — I had so much work," Rabon said. The older members of the team reserved a study room on campus so the entire house could do homework as a group in a quiet space. "That was one of the first instances at CMU where I really felt like we were all in this together."

Rabon was moved by the gesture of support from his teammates and soon joined SAAC, enjoying the opportunities to volunteer with Special Olympics and organizing tailgates for athletes to attend each other's sporting events. He became president of the organization in 2022 and led efforts to involve student athletes in Thanksgiving community food drives and reinstate a tutoring program with Pittsburgh Public Schools.

Balancing academics with community service on top of a competitive soccer career never felt like too much, Rabon said, knowing he could rely on his teammates' help.

"There may be teams that are better than us, but we are always going to outwork them," Rabon said.

For Rabon, that means hours on the field and in the weight room and intentional gratitude for the people behind the scenes helping the team compete — from staff who do the team laundry or to those who provide athletic training and medical support.

"I really noticed that having one part of my life in order bled into every other part," Rabon said.

Just as a game of soccer flows rapidly between offense and defense, Rabon has shifted between studying for rigorous academic courses, preparing for the MCAT exam, and applying for research opportunities with the National Institutes of Health.

Head soccer coach Brandon Bowman chose Rabon as captain because of his hard work ethic and performance under pressure.

"Even during a tough spell of injuries, Will picked himself up and influenced the team from the sidelines," Bowman said.

The coach referred to a head injury Rabon incurred, leading to long-term concussion rehabilitation. The experience deepened Rabon's academic interest in the brain and neuroscience. Rabon interned with the UPMC concussion research lab after completing his own treatment.

"I loved working with patients and going through the concussion protocol with them, analyzing their data. I even wrote a paper that's en route to publication," he said.

Soccer and service will always be part of life for Rabon, who plans to locate a recreational team when he spends a year conducting research prior to medical school. His goal is to be neurosurgeon.

"In soccer, you're constantly having to think on your feet, see the field a few moves ahead. You have to allow others to shine and work as a cohesive team," Rabon said. "Every physician has to work with a team, too, to communicate under intense, high-pressure situations. I believe that experience will help me in med school."