VULCAN FRONT LINES
Former UH Hilo soccer player, cross country runner and nursing student Meghan Langbehn used to be known as Wonder Woman. Now, at Seattle's Swedish Medical Center, she is just Nurse Meghan--but with big time real life responsibility.

When Meghan Langbehn was a student-athlete at UH Hilo, her nickname was Wonder Woman.

Aptly termed, she earned that title by virtue of participating in the unheard of trifecta of playing soccer, running cross country and studying in the UH Nursing program. All at the same time, all in the same semester.

"Everyone thought I was crazy," Langbehn said. "No one had attempted that before, and for good reason."

During a typical week as a junior in the Fall of 2017, Langbehn would run with her cross country team in the morning, go to classes, practice with her soccer team in the morning or afternoon and then hit the books again until very late at night. On Saturdays, the routine was even crazier. She would have a race in the morning, and if geography allowed, would take the field with her futbol teammates as a defender in the afternoon.

She started in a total of 37 career matches on the soccer field before an injury ended her season as a junior. In 2017 and 2018, she was one of the top runners on the cross country team, often the second or third Vulcan to cross the finish line.

Wonder Woman she was---to her teammates, coaches and fellow nursing program students. No one had ever attempted carrying that heavy a load before, and likely no one will ever again.

These days, the Folsom, California native is on the front lines and is playing for real. No longer Wonder woman, she is just Nurse Meghan, working in Seattle as a registered nurse at the Swedish Medical Center.

After graduating from UHH, she worked at the Hilo Medical Center. Obviously always up for a challenge, she jumped at the opportunity to relocate to Seattle with another UH Hilo grad to work for one of the top hospitals in the region.

"It was a great chance to get a big city experience as a nurse," she explained. "I came to Washington because one of my best friends I made in the UH Nursing program came out here and we would be starting a new chapter in an unknown world together."

As stressful as life was sometimes was as a student-athlete, Meghan's new world carries a real and greater responsibility.

"Oh gosh, life is more challenging these days because I am an adult taking on a lot more responsibility now and for my future, " she said.  "I am working in a career in which human life is in my hands and the practice is always evolving. Ultimately I am going to be learning for the rest of my life but that's ultimately who I am and motivates me." 

In her off time, she still runs and hikes in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. These days, it reduces stress, doesn't add to it. "For sure, I need it some days to wind down."

But it doesn't provide the memories that being a Vulcan Wonder Woman gave her.

"I miss the fun we had on the road together with the wins, the losses and the team bonding," Langbehn recalls. "Walking around Disneyland, playing beach volleyball, jumping off the rock at Waimea, cruising the North Shore. In the off season we spent a lot of time camping, going to the beach, and enjoying time with other student-athletes.

"Nursing definitely limited my time spent with my teams. I had to spend extra study hall hours staying caught up with the nursing workload. My social life was the time spent traveling and practicing with my two teams."

For sure, life today is different than it was just a few short years ago.

"I miss being involved in the Hilo community and being able to participate in all my passions at once," she added. "I miss the competitive lifestyle of pushing myself each day and inspiring others. I miss the challenge of the astounding time management it all required. I was able to do that and have somewhat of a social life, mostly within the three associations.

"I don't always feel like I was giving any of the three all that I could, but the balancing act was a very valuable education. I wouldn't trade that time for anything."