USD Magazine Fall 2026

“ I like to frame it as the practice of ‘joining.’ There’s a way to think about coming and entering into the community — not only to fix or learn from — but with the hope that you’re able to join.” — John Loggins, Mulvaney Center for Community, Awareness and Social Action

With a newfound connection to its people and appreciation of the culture and the history of Duncans, students were excited to make their way to Duncans All Age, the school they’d be visiting for days to come. Duncans All Age is a public school that teaches students in primary and secondary grades. Loggins has taken USD groups here for years. One of his first projects — supported by USD funding nearly 20 years ago — was to clear nearby brush and create an athletics field. This time around, the student-athletes would be working most closely with the school’s unit dedicated to neurodivergent learners. Many of the students are nonverbal and, upon arrival, it took some time to establish a connection. Just like that first night, though, recess helped.

These were NCAA Division I athletes visiting their school, and the children wanted to see what they were all about. They challenged the USD student-athletes to foot races. They kicked around soccer balls with them. Bauer hoisted one child up in the air. And when he turned around there was a line of several more kids beaming, wanting their turn, even as the bell rang to return to class. The kids were starstruck, many of them now chatting with their new friends and even asking for autographs. Inside the classroom, the student athletes served as teaching assistants. They graded assignments and helped around class. When a student got distracted, they were able to step in and allow the teacher to continue the lesson for the rest of the class. In a school where resources are limited,

under one roof, going on excursions and transformational experiences together, what Johnson told them at the outset seemed prophetic. They came to Duncans as teammates and left as fast friends. “They told us all that, after the trip, you guys are going to be very good friends. And I didn’t really believe it,” Bauer said. “And then on the trip it felt supernatural. What we did at the school — actually feeling like you’re making the world a better place. For us, being able to experience that together was very, very connecting.” Year one of Toreros Go Global was a major success, Johnson said, but it’s only the start. There’s talk of funding to continue the work Loggins started long ago, building out the field even further. And Johnson wants this inaugural cohort to be the foundation of a long-running program. Next, she wants to get coaches involved. And she envisions alumni returning to the program to help in Duncans and grow out their new family. “My goal is in 10 years, to have, like, 80 athletes,” she said. “We all get together, we reminisce and we cry, we laugh — all these things.” Opposite page: Nemo Beach and Mathias Bauer made strong connections with the students in Duncans. “It was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life,” Bauer said.

“It was so fulfilling,” Bauer added. “We weren’t on our phones that much. We weren’t distracted. I didn’t even open my text messages from home for a week because I didn’t want to. I just wanted to be there. And that’s what made the whole thing so special.” The trip was opening new doors for everyone involved. What Loggins and Johnson envisioned was manifesting. And the newfound perspective they had, Loggins hoped, wouldn’t be left behind in Jamaica. The program wasn’t just about what was done there — the travel, the immersion, the service. Work like this overseas, he said, can open your eyes to ways you can uplift your own community at home. “We all have this worldview. One of the things about experience and education is it provides opportunities to challenge and put you on a little bit of dissonance,” Loggins said. “You can still love everything about where you grew up. But now you can wrestle with, ‘OK, these are some realities. And how do I take those things in?’ It helps put things into context to understand the global landscape.” For the young children in Duncans, Taxa said, it opened their eyes as well. They met people from different countries, who spoke different languages, and got to learn about these college athletes from San Diego. For

them, the trip served as a looking glass into the rest of the world and a launch pad for making their dreams a reality. Breaking Barriers One of the last days in Duncans, the team put on the field day it had planned, on the very space Loggins helped clear all those years ago. Before him, he saw generations of impact. With the help of Taxa, they put on a soccer game with the local club team. There were food and games, and, of course, more playing. Up until they left, student athletes were still forming bonds with the children of Duncans. “A lot of young girls were a little bit scared to play soccer because ‘Oh, that’s something that the guys do,’” said Walls, who gestured to her and her women’s soccer teammate, Graham. “We were like, ‘No, you can come play with us,’ and they started getting into it. I felt like we kind of broke that barrier.” As they boarded the plane, a lot had changed. The student-athletes had formed long-lasting bonds with the locals. Walls still exchanges messages over social media with some of the children she met, and hopes to return some day. And they forged new friendships with one another. After 10 days of travel, living

whole school. He always sits there when he can, and he just wanted me to sit there and just enjoy the sun and the birds and everything,” Bauer said. “I couldn’t speak to him because he wouldn’t respond. So, we were just sitting there and existing. That was a very awesome moment for me.” Being Present Moments like that helped put everything into perspective. These were young kids without the same resources or comforts that we enjoy here at home, but they were always smiling and laughing, and grateful for what they had. There, in those moments, USD student-athletes also saw kids who weren’t locked into a phone or tablet. That taught them about living in the moment. “In the U.S. if we have something to do, we have to do it now. But when I was there it was like I could relax. Like, ‘No, just talk to us. Enjoy. Spend time with us,’” said Chloe Walls, redshirt sophomore goalkeeper for USD’s women’s soccer team. “When I came home, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I need to be more present with my friends. I need to be more present with my family. Let me put my phone away because they weren’t really on their phone ever.’”

the extra sets of hands provided a welcome lift. As the visits continued, the Toreros felt the impact, and it went both ways. One day, Bauer recalled, a nonverbal student he’d been trying to connect with grabbed his hand and walked out of the classroom. Bauer asked him if he wanted to kick around the soccer ball, but the boy silently led him to a spot underneath a tree and sat down. Bauer asked the boy again if he wanted to play, but he insisted they sit there, which is when it clicked. “I found out this is his favorite spot in the

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