By Hannah Bundrick
“Some people know me as the ‘scooter girl’ from a few years back,” Micheala McCarthy ’13 says, reminiscing on her sophomore year when she rode around on a scooter after a surgery on her leg. “There were some setbacks: I tumbled down a hill once when my friend was acting as my brake.” It seems McCarthy has started a trend on campus; now there are multiple people breezing through campus on scooters during the healing process of various injuries.
This farm girl hails from Omaha, Neb., the oldest of six children. “We also have a nanny with two-and-a-half-year-old twins, and they basically live at our house, so it’s pretty packed!” McCarthy says. She also owns a horse named Prosper, named by her grandfather after the Prospector from “Toy Story.” Being the oldest of many young siblings and the caretaker of a horse has served her well in the leadership roles she holds in student organizations on campus. McCarthy is a member of Reaching Our Goals (ROG), The St. Olaf Volunteer Network (VN), The After Dark Committee (ADC) and The St. Olaf Cancer Connection (SCC), as well as a Trio mentor, President of the Special Olympics and an athlete on the all-girls Ultimate Frisbee team, Durga, which placed 4th at the Confrence-Regionals Tournament. “We had three bids this year, so we were supposed to place third in order to go to Nationals, but it was still a really fun season,” McCarthy says.
Her involvement in Special Olympics began her junior year when the previous leader decided to step down. “I contacted the previous president to see what needed to be done for the events, and he told me he was not heading it up anymore, and then he asked me if I wanted to take over, and I said yes,” McCarthy says. The club’s events depend on the season. There is bowling in the fall, with practices held every Sunday. Each athlete is paired up with a teammate, matched by ability, and the tournament is held the first weekend in November followed by an awards ceremony. Swimming is the winter sport and Track is the spring event. “Basically we help the coaches run practices, build relationships with the athletes and act as motivators for the athletes,” McCarthy says.
ROG is a mentoring program for Hispanic students in the Northfield area, a program that McCarthy co-directs. Oles pick students up once a week and bring them to St. Olaf for an hour and a half of bonding activities. “Essentially, we are what they need us to be,” McCarthy says. “This year, two middle and high school girls immigrated here from Guatemala and spoke little-to-no English. It really made me want to brush up on my Spanish, which is what I will be doing during my year off [after graduation].”
McCarthy plans to go to medical school after her year off, but she will not be relaxing during the transition period. “I am hoping to get my CNA [Certified Nursing Assistant] certification, work at a hospital, take a few science and Spanish courses so I don’t lose those skills, and I am also talking with physicians back home who run month-long abroad trips,” McCarthy says. Her thoughts about graduating this year remain positive and encouraging: “I don’t think people should feel nervous about graduating. It’s an exciting time. Yes, you don’t exactly know how it’s all going to fit into place, but that’s the fun part.”
All photos from Michaela with permission.