A native of Dillsburg, Pa., Gwen Baublitz is a junior majoring in entertainment media and a goalkeeper for the field hockey team. Although she has not played a game yet this season due to a knee dislocation, she is making the best of it to keep moving forward despite her injury.
Baublitz has been a part of the field hockey team since her freshman year, but injuries to her knee have kept her from playing for most of her career. Her injury occurred over the summer during the pre-season. She explains, “I went to clear a ball, and I don’t know if my foot got caught on the ground or if I just opened my leg too much, but my knee dislocated, so my kneecap was on the side of my leg.”
But this isn’t her first time dislocating her knee. Her first injury occurred during her freshman year, in the offseason.
“I was trying to get something off my wall, and my ottoman lid wasn’t on the whole way, and as I turned to come down, it slid out, and it dislocated, and I rehabbed it.” This time around, however, it will require surgery to prevent it from happening again.
But even when she can’t play, Baublitz still attends every practice and every game to support her teammates, and now she is performing physical therapy during practices. She explains, “During our practices, I’ve started doing physical therapy, so at first I was kind of just sitting behind the goal cheering on my fellow goalies because I’m a goalie, but now that I’m able to move it more, I’ve started my physical therapy.”
Other than physical therapy, she is the current president of Lasell Community Television, and says that it helps keep her busy.
“The fact that I can still fully commit myself to this and I’m not held back, it’s an area where I’m not really handicapped right now, which is good.”
She oversees the production of the Laser Exclusive, Culinary College, Laser Sports Update, Lazer Fun Zone, and other LCTV-related productions.
Baublitz said that this injury has given her a new perspective on her field hockey career, and she hopes that next season will be better, as she feels more grateful for the sport. “When I got hurt, it made me appreciate it more, and now I am going to try to get my season back into a fifth year,” she explains, hoping that a fifth season can give her time to experience the game.
For now, senior McKenna Ecker and Freshman Brooke Gaudet will be taking over as goalkeepers. Baublitz believes that Ecker will be an excellent player and is glad not to have to compete against her.
As she continues rehabilitating her knee and preparing for surgery, her roommate and boyfriend, junior graphic design major Andre Fuchs, comments on her injury, seeing the harsh reality of not being able to participate.
“I’m glad I get to be there for her, but I can tell it’s definitely hard, watching her teammates play when she’s not able to.”
He now drives Gwen places and picks up fallen items for her in their dorm room, and assists her in her work in LCTV as a graphic designer.
Not only that, but Gwen got a new scooter for her birthday in June and rides all around campus in it, but was almost not able to due to a missing charger, commenting, “I lost the charger for it midway through July,” “when I got hurt, I told myself, I’m ordering a new charger right now because I crutched around campus for about one day and I was like, I need to ride this thing.” She sure made the right decision.
Through the bad and the good, Gwen Baublitz continues to work hard and remain positive. She will be taking on a new role as a club president and hopes to play field hockey again very soon.
–Oct. 7, 2025–
