Throughout the spring semester we are highlighting our senior Fighting Scots with a Senior Salute series. Today's featured senior swimming and diving's Hadley Reckard. Reckard is a political science major.
Q: Why did you choose to attend The College of Wooster?
A: I chose to attend Wooster because of the combination of academics, career opportunities, the ability to continue competing in my sport, and the community on campus. I felt very at home since my first time visiting Wooster and knew I would be able to be successful here.
Q: What does being a Fighting Scot student-athlete mean to you?
A: Being a Fighting Scot student-athlete means being dedicated to my sport and my team. Our team is known for being the loudest team on deck. We always support each other in our races and work hard in the pool. I also think being a scholar-athlete and continuing to maintain high academic standards along with athletic goals is important to our team culture.
Q: What are some of your favorite memories as a student at The College of Wooster?
A: Some of my favorite memories have been on the swimming and diving team's training trip to St. Petersburg, Florida every year. It is always a great time to be able to train and spend time with my teammates.
Q: What is the best part about being a student-athlete at The College of Wooster?
A: The support and relationships that I have been able to build with teammates and coaches who have helped me so much in my time here to grow as an athlete and a person.
Q: What else were you involved with on campus besides your sport?
A: I am a tour guide for the admissions, a voting engagement intern, a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representative, and a Scot Council representative for the senior class.
Q: Which College of Wooster faculty or staff member has made the greatest impact on you and why?
A: Dr. Megan Wrobel in the political science department has been my academic advisor as well as the faculty advisor for the voting engagement interns. I was a teaching assistant for her U.S. Congress class last year. She has helped me become more involved on campus and always makes class and meetings engaging and interesting. I would not be able to accomplish my goals without her support and mentorship.
Q: What other people or resources impacted your Wooster experience in a positive way and how did these people and resources set you up to be successful at Wooster?
A: The career planning office in APEX has been extremely beneficial to me with finding internships over the summer, connecting with alumni in the law careers, and helping with law school applications this fall.
Q: Tell us a bit about your Independent Study project?
A: My I.S. focuses on how the way we run primary elections could be making Congress more polarized. I am looking at whether closed primaries, where only party members can vote, push candidates to take more extreme positions than open systems do, thereby increasing the amount of extreme and partisan representatives in the legislature.
Q: Tell us a bit about something cool you did as a student at The College of Wooster?
A: Through living in a service house, I was able to spend a significant amount of time volunteering in a special needs classroom at Edgewood Middle School. This experience was very influential in my time here and solidified my interest in public interest law.
Q: Reflecting back on your time at Wooster, what advice would you give your first-year self?
A: I would tell myself to be more confident in myself and my abilities, to spend more time being involved on campus earlier, and take advantage of all the opportunities here.
Interested in becoming a Fighting Scot?
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