Wisconsin's Morgan Shields has not only excelled on the court for the Badgers, but in the classroom as well.
  
Wisconsin's Morgan Shields has always enjoyed taking charge.

"I like to be in control," she said, laughing. "I like bossing people around."

Whether it is on the volleyball court quarterbacking the Badgers or in the lab conducting experiments, the fifth-year senior enjoys controlling all the variables.

Last year on the court, the 5'11" setter ranked fourth in the nation and led the Big Ten with 13.91 assists per game and tallied a total of 63 service aces, good for second in the Conference. Her performances earned her All-Big Ten, All-Mideast Region and third-team AVCA All-America accolades. Currently, the two-time captain ranks third in the Big Ten with 13.18 assists through 45 games.

Shields has thoroughly embraced the title of student-athlete, dual majoring in psychology and history. She received the Hilldale Undergraduate Faculty Research Fellowship, a $4,000 grant awarded to Wisconsin students who do collaborative research with their professors.

Shields will team-up with Psychology Professor Eddie Harmon-Jones to conduct experiments measuring cognitive dissonance, the inconsistency between thought and behavior. Translating the psychological jargon into layman's terms, Shields gives the example of someone who watches a movie and says they don't like it, yet goes out and buys another ticket to the same movie.

While she will begin running these experiments during volleyball season, Shields relishes the hectic and demanding schedule of being a student-athlete.

"Outside of learning how to manage time and deal with people in any given situation, it is a great opportunity to travel, meet other people and see what career you are interested in," she said.

Although she has not set a definite post-graduation path, Shields can offer this bit of advice.

"Just keep an open mind about the future, where you are at, where you are going, and where you can go," she explained. "It's always been a blessing to play volleyball this long and I really appreciate it."