Leaders In Competition And Life
December 08, 2023 | Soccer, Volleyball, Athletic Academics, Student-Athlete Development
STARKVILLE – From the pitch to the court, Mississippi State soccer's Macey Hodge and volleyball's Rebecca Walk have developed into exceptional leaders during their time in Starkville.
The MSU athletic department offers many opportunities for student-athletes to improve their leadership skills and prepare for the future after their collegiate careers have finished, and Hodge and Walk have taken advantage of those chances.
Internships and organizations such as State's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and Bulldogs Experiential Learning Internship (BELI) have provided Hodge and Walk with experiences they will remember forever.
"For the past two years now, I've been a member of SAAC," Hodge said. "I feel like that was super big just being able to interact with other leaders on campus. We [also] interact with administration a lot so that was a great opportunity for me."
Hodge kicked off her collegiate career on the pitch in the Maroon and White in 2020 as a redshirt freshman. Since then, she has played a total of 6,470 minutes for the Bulldogs.
Although she has faced much adversity during her collegiate career, Hodge remained headstrong and provided those around her with a prime example of what it means to have the Bulldog mentality.
"For me, being a Bulldog has meant everything," Hodge said. "With my different journey here, I viewed this as a second chance at my life and my dreams. It's meant everything to be able to come here and meet the people that I've met and grow into the role that I have. It means more to me just coming from the circumstances that I did."
After completing her senior year at State, Hodge gave her flowers to the tremendous job head coach James Armstrong and his staff have done in building the leaders of the future.
"Being able to be around so many great people that care about me beyond soccer has really shaped who I am," Hodge said. "People like [Director of Soccer Operations] Alyssa D'Aloise and Andrea Tyrrell that were here in years that I was a little bit younger were great role models for me and helped me develop my own leadership qualities. I credit them a lot for making me the leader that I've grown into."
Switching from the pitch to the court, Walk has taken full of advantage of her Bulldog career as well. She's excelled for her team as well as soaked in knowledge as part of the BELI program.
The native of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, has been with the Bulldogs since transferring from South Alabama in 2021. Walk has appeared in 77 matches in the Maroon and White.
As a participant in the BELI program, Walk received an in-depth look at the jobs of those who work extremely hard to prepare student-athletes for success.
"Last semester I did the BELI internship so I worked with Bulldog Sports Properties, and they will work with your class schedule, workout schedule and practices you have," Walk said. "You go in about eight hours a week and [they] let you see everything they do. They don't shy away from telling you the good, the bad and the ugly of it all. It was really eye-opening for me to see how much everyone working in athletics does for us as athletes."
For Walk, these experiences and opportunities that have allowed her to grow into the leader she is today is something that she will cherish forever.
"When I came here [in] the spring of my freshman year, it was really cool to see how much pride everyone has for the programs here," Walk said. "Getting to be from Mississippi and represent my home state has given me a lot of pride for where I'm from. Being able to represent the school has brought me a lot of joy."
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The MSU athletic department offers many opportunities for student-athletes to improve their leadership skills and prepare for the future after their collegiate careers have finished, and Hodge and Walk have taken advantage of those chances.
Internships and organizations such as State's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and Bulldogs Experiential Learning Internship (BELI) have provided Hodge and Walk with experiences they will remember forever.
"For the past two years now, I've been a member of SAAC," Hodge said. "I feel like that was super big just being able to interact with other leaders on campus. We [also] interact with administration a lot so that was a great opportunity for me."
Hodge kicked off her collegiate career on the pitch in the Maroon and White in 2020 as a redshirt freshman. Since then, she has played a total of 6,470 minutes for the Bulldogs.
Although she has faced much adversity during her collegiate career, Hodge remained headstrong and provided those around her with a prime example of what it means to have the Bulldog mentality.
"For me, being a Bulldog has meant everything," Hodge said. "With my different journey here, I viewed this as a second chance at my life and my dreams. It's meant everything to be able to come here and meet the people that I've met and grow into the role that I have. It means more to me just coming from the circumstances that I did."
After completing her senior year at State, Hodge gave her flowers to the tremendous job head coach James Armstrong and his staff have done in building the leaders of the future.
"Being able to be around so many great people that care about me beyond soccer has really shaped who I am," Hodge said. "People like [Director of Soccer Operations] Alyssa D'Aloise and Andrea Tyrrell that were here in years that I was a little bit younger were great role models for me and helped me develop my own leadership qualities. I credit them a lot for making me the leader that I've grown into."
Switching from the pitch to the court, Walk has taken full of advantage of her Bulldog career as well. She's excelled for her team as well as soaked in knowledge as part of the BELI program.
The native of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, has been with the Bulldogs since transferring from South Alabama in 2021. Walk has appeared in 77 matches in the Maroon and White.
As a participant in the BELI program, Walk received an in-depth look at the jobs of those who work extremely hard to prepare student-athletes for success.
"Last semester I did the BELI internship so I worked with Bulldog Sports Properties, and they will work with your class schedule, workout schedule and practices you have," Walk said. "You go in about eight hours a week and [they] let you see everything they do. They don't shy away from telling you the good, the bad and the ugly of it all. It was really eye-opening for me to see how much everyone working in athletics does for us as athletes."
For Walk, these experiences and opportunities that have allowed her to grow into the leader she is today is something that she will cherish forever.
"When I came here [in] the spring of my freshman year, it was really cool to see how much pride everyone has for the programs here," Walk said. "Getting to be from Mississippi and represent my home state has given me a lot of pride for where I'm from. Being able to represent the school has brought me a lot of joy."
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Players Mentioned
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Wednesday, May 21
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