ALUMNI IN ACTION
Discovering Her Life's Goal: Jennah Loggins’ Journey From the Soccer Field to Adobe Headquarters
By Michelle Smith McDonald
Jennah Loggins’ life looks a lot different than it did six months ago. Rather than a schedule dictated by practice and film and team meals, she is at work — sometimes at home, sometimes at a local coffee shop and sometimes at the Adobe headquarters in downtown San José.
Instead of pursuing the pathway suggested by her kinesiology studies at San José State, which might have led her to a career as a physical therapist or a sports psychologist, Loggins — who graduated from SJSU in December 2023 — is writing and planning social media posts in the Brand Communications division of one of the world’s most impactful technology companies.
And rather than knowing exactly what she wants to do with her future work life, Loggins has opened herself up to new possibilities, thanks to a partnership between Adobe and SJSU Athletics.
“I’m building the boat as I’m sailing,” Loggins says.
Jennah Loggins overcame injuries early in her SJSU career to play in 15 of the Spartans' 19 matches in 2023. Photo courtesy of SJSU Athletics.
Loggins’ personal story is one steeped in resilience and perseverance. Her mother passed away when she was a baby, and her father disappeared from her life soon after. She and her three siblings were raised by her aunt, who had three children of her own. Their family of seven made for a full, and often chaotic, childhood in Covina, California.
“We moved schools a lot, we moved into new houses and apartments,” Loggins said. “At one point seven of us were living in a two-bedroom apartment with one bathroom. I’m used to dealing with hard things. It’s been my whole life.”
Loggins’ was a kid who was drawn to sports — not just one or two — but all of them. She played softball, volleyball, basketball and ran track.
“It was an outlet I needed,” Loggins says.
Her younger cousin played club soccer, and encouraged Loggins to take up the sport. Loggins started playing as an eighth grader.
“I didn’t even know the rules when I started,” Loggins says.
She was spotted at a club tournament by a “premiere team” coach, and was immediately snapped up because of her speed and athleticism. Within two and a half dizzying years, Loggins was recruited and committed to San José State as a Division I athlete.
Her soccer journey at SJSU turned out to be a much bumpier road.
Loggins sustained anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears in each of her knees in back-to-back seasons. She played just three games in her freshman season and didn’t play at all in her sophomore year.
“It was sad and it was heartbreaking and I knew what I had to do,” Loggins says. “I looked at it as just another thing I had to go through.”
While her teammates moved on through most of two seasons without her, Loggins knew she had to pivot.
“I had to tap into other things that would make me feel like a part of something,” Loggins says. She read, prayed and spent time with teammates, trying to have fun away from the field to maintain those relationships. And she joined Beyond Sparta.
“We moved schools a lot, we moved into new houses and apartments. I’m used to dealing with hard things. It’s been my whole life. Soccer was the outlet I needed.”
— Jennah Loggins
“I knew after the injuries that soccer wasn’t going to be in the future for me,” Loggins says. “I had to tap into my future career and life after sports. That was a big deal for me.”
Beyond Sparta is a program available to SJSU student-athletes that exposes them to campus resources and job opportunities, offers volunteer activities and helps them develop career-focused best practices to prepare for life beyond their sport.
“It can be a challenging time for athletes with an injury who aren’t able to contribute to their teams in the way they are used to, but Jennah was able to lean into another part of her passion to fill the void,” says Beyond Sparta program director and SJSU Sports Supervisor Tobruk Blaine. “Whether an athlete gets injured or not, Beyond Sparta is a mechanism to help Jennah and other athletes like her explore what their life will look like when their sport is done. It gives them something to lean into.”
A healthy and happy Loggins returned to the pitch in 2022 to help the Spartans win the Mountain West Conference title. In her final season before graduating in December 2023, she played in 15 matches for the Spartans.
“The reality is that a lot of student- athletes don’t know what they want to do after college,” Blaine says. “A lot of them picked majors that they thought they could succeed in while playing their sport. Beyond Sparta and the Adobe internship are intended to expose them to what’s possible.”
Blaine says Loggins was open-minded about the possibilities for her career after college.
Loggins applied for the Adobe Student-Athlete micro internship program before her final semester at SJSU. She went in thinking she would get her foot in the door and learn what the corporate world was about.
“It’s a huge company, so I didn’t know what to expect,” Loggins says. “I ended up doing work [in social media] that had nothing to do with what I was studying in school.”
The Adobe Student-Athlete micro internship program is offered to students at three U.S. colleges — SJSU, Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina and Bowie State University in Maryland. The program included 16 athletes last summer — 12 of them received full-time offers for jobs after graduation.
“Adobe’s Student Athlete Micro Internship is a testament to our commitment to building a diverse university-to-corporate-talent pipeline that empowers students with the skills they need to thrive in the tech and creative industries,” says Vaishali Sabhatit, Adobe’s global head of university talent. “In today's fiercely competitive job market, internships are seen as essential for students to kickstart their careers. That's why we’re proud to support student-athletes and enable them to cultivate invaluable career skills by engaging in impactful, strategic projects at Adobe while balancing the demands of their sports.”
“As an athlete, I always wanted to pursue a career in sports, but Beyond Sparta gave me different experiences. Now that I’m not a student-athlete anymore, I feel like I am finding my way into my other interests.”
— Jennah Loggins
Leap forward three months after graduation and Loggins is working full-time at Adobe. If it were not for Beyond Sparta’s exposure to the Adobe program, Loggins says, she would not now be working in downtown San José for one of the top companies in the world.
Loggins admits it’s not been easy transitioning from being a full-time student athlete to a full-time employee. The structure of a student-athlete’s schedule, from practice time, to class time, to meeting time, to meal time, is tough to shake.
“Everything is built for you,” Loggins says. “I’ve had a set schedule for the last five years.”
Not to mention mourning the day-to-day involvement of the sport you’ve spent much of your life playing. But her experience as a student-athlete has also prepared her in many ways.
Both also require a similar level of “grit,” as she puts it, especially when moving into a full-time career and having new day-to-day work experiences.
“The work is very different from other things I’ve done and it’s taken a lot of hard work to get me through and to be constantly getting better. I’ve had a lot of things thrown at me,” Loggins says.
But Loggins adds that she’s relished the opportunity to “showcase new talents I didn’t know I had.”
“As an athlete, I always wanted to pursue a career in sports, but Beyond Sparta gave me different experiences and I learned there are other things I’m interested in. Now that I’m not a student-athlete anymore, I feel like I am finding my way into my other interests. I’m really enjoying what I do now.”
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