This senior is known all over campus for both her skills on the soccer field, and her passion to help others. Meet Maddy Buckley!
Class Year: 2015
Major: Critical Social Studies
Minor: Education
HC: Why did you choose to come to Hobart and William Smith?
MB: I decided on HWS for three reasons. First being that it is a small community of professors, coaches, faculty and staff that truly want to see you succeed and improve as an individual. Second, I wanted to play for William Smith Soccer, which has an extensive history of being a nationally ranked team. Third, it was a second home to me because my father is a Geneva native. I love Geneva for its lake, the people, and the quaintness of the town.
HC: What accomplishment are you most proud of here, and why?
MB: I am most proud of winning a national championship. It is something my teammates, my coaches, and I will never forget. We decided the summer before that we would do anything in our power to win that national championship. We committed ourselves to doing the little things, to not making short cuts, to push ourselves beyond our comfort zone. We decided the only way we would be able to accomplish such a difficult feat, was to live and breathe by the mantra of us, we over you, me. By this we mean that each individual player on our team committed to putting the team over themselves, putting the team first. We learned that season that it’s not about us, it’s about the people around us, the people that came before us. We accomplished our goal because we didn’t focus on ourselves, we focused on others. That experience with my teammates and coaches is what I am most proud of.
Secondly I am proud of bringing our team impact teammate Courtney Wagner to our team. Courtney is a senior in high school and has been on our team for three years now. She was my roommate during the national championship weekend and I am forever grateful for our friendship. She has taught our team that nothing can stop you, not even cancer stops her. She is so tough and the epitome of a hero. Love her.
HC: You have recently been nominated for a very prestigious athletic award, what does that mean to you?
MB: I have been named a finalist for the John Wooden Citizenship Cup Award.
John Wooden, one of the greatest coaches and positive role models in the history of the NCAA, gave Athletes for a Better World (ABW) permission to present an award in his name. The Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup is presented to two distinguished athletes from any sport – one intercollegiate and one professional – that best display character, teamwork, and citizenship, the attributes Athletes for a Better World deems central to transforming individuals, sport, and society. The award establishes the recipients as athletes of excellence both on and off the field, role models both as performers and persons, the most important and distinctive honor athletes can achieve.
The Wooden Cup is open to all college athletes, all divisions, all sports. For this reason, the Wooden Cup is regarded as the highest award in college sports.
I am humbled by such an award. When I heard that I was named a finalist I couldn’t help but think of the people who got me here today. I thank them for showing me the importance of service, leadership, and having a big heart. I have had mentors and coaches who have shaped me into who I am today. I am grateful for the lessons I have learned throughout my life that I want to share because my mentors taught me them.
To be in the here and now. To make the people I am with in that moment feel important and feel good about themselves.
To spend time with people. I have found that people find time for the things they want to do. There is always time.
To not be afraid of getting out of your comfort zone because that is where you will find the most success. There’s no growth in the comfort zone and no comfort in the growth zone.
Just a few of the lessons I have learned.
HC: Who has been the biggest influence on you throughout your time here?
MB: At HWS, my coach Aliceann Wilber has had the most influence on me. First, she has always believed in me. She helped me develop my leadership skills and showed me what is important in life. She showed me how to see the forest and not just the tree in front of me. She taught me to never take short cuts and to do the little things that will add up. She taught me the value of team chemistry. She made me into the player I am today. She taught me that the only real way to become a better player was to commit myself to indivisible improvement through practicing on my own. She has been my coach, my mentor, my friend, and like a mother.
HC: Where do you see yourself in five years?
MB: In five years I see myself being a child life specialist at a hospital in Boston. As well as my profession, I see myself volunteering for a non profit and being a soccer coach at the club level.
HC: What do you want to be remembered for upon graduation this May?
MB: I want to be remembered for the way I made people feel. I love the quote from Maya Angelou which is this, “people will forget what you did, people will forget what you said, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
Here is a little bit more about Maddy!
Favorites:
Class at HWS: Sociology of Family
Spot on Campus: Cozzens Field
Place in Geneva: Wegmans
Season: Fall
Celebrity: Ed Sheeran
Celebrity Crush: Mark Wahlburg
Movie: Finding Nemo