Alumni Spotlights are Q&A's with former Lasell student-athletes, across a myriad of sports, as they reflect on their Lasell experience and how it has shaped their lives today. Read more spotlight features here.
Name: Wendy (Riddle) Lynch
Graduation Year: 2006
Major: Legal Studies with a minor in Forensic Studies
Sport(s) played at Lasell: Softball and Volleyball
Hometown: Billerica, MA
Current Town/ City: Billerica, MA
Why did you decide to attend Lasell? Recruited for softball and really liked the smaller, neighborhood college setting.
Current Occupation/ Job Title: Occupation: Law enforcement; Title: Lieutenant Detective
Tell us about your job. What do you like most about your current role? I currently lead the Investigations and Special Operations Unit within the Northeastern University Police Department. This entails managing and leading all the detectives, criminal investigations, intelligence, evidence, executive protection, background investigations, court, security assessments, and special operations. What I like the most about my current role is the ability to lead and develop a group of extremely talented detectives in an urban community.
How did your experience at Lasell help prepare you for what you are doing today? In order to be a successful student-athlete at Lasell, I had to learn how to effectively manage my time, multi-task, and work through stressful situations to be able to fit in my studies and sports while still working at the same time. I also enhanced my leadership skills as being the Captain of both the Volleyball and Softball teams at Lasell.
Time-management, multi-tasking, and leadership are key to being successful in any profession and my experiences at Lasell have certainly helped me succeed and get to where I am today.
What advice/insight do you have for Lasell alumni and current student-athletes interested in your career field? My advice for anyone interested in law enforcement today would be to make sure you enter into this career field for the right reasons. The national spotlight is currently on police officers and law enforcement and there is no room for self-centered or biased individuals in this line of work. It is essential that those entering into this profession are committed to keeping their community safe, are committed to making their community better, and treat every individual they interact with, with dignity, respect, fairness and equality. As an athlete, the lessons you learn about teamwork are crucial in policing as you cannot do the job as a police officer alone. To be effective, you need to be able to work together with not only your colleagues, but those in the community in which you serve as well.
Looking back on your time as a Lasell student-athlete, what is one of your favorite memories? My favorite memories as a student-athlete at Lasell were the annual Spring Training trips that our softball team took to Fort Myers each year. The bonding time and life experiences that came from those annual trips are times I will never forget, and quite honestly, miss.