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Senior Spotlight: Sarah Hackman
By Leora Tanjuatco
Although senior Sarah Hackman has been a Wahoo for the past three years, her heart still belongs in Maryland. A Baltimore native, Hackman is a diehard Ravens fans and attributes her involvement in lacrosse to the recreational programs in her hometown.
“Instead of little league soccer, I played little league lacrosse in Baltimore when I was five,” she recalls.
Although Charlottesville was miles away from home and everything familiar, the defender moved down south after graduating from Notre Dame Prep. Unlike some of her teammates, Hackman didn’t know a single person at UVa. And as if adjusting to life as a college freshman wasn’t challenging enough, she decided to push herself even further by joining the lacrosse team.
“My dad went here, so I’ve always loved this university – just everything about it,” Hackman said. “When there was a spot for me on the team, it was absolutely perfect. I love having the structure of a team and having people here to help me out. It made the school a lot smaller and growing individually, and with the team, was a really great experience.”
Four years later, Hackman is the one helping the freshmen make the adjustment and leading her team as a senior, even if she is off the field. Her years of experience and dedication to the team have certainly been welcomed by the coaches and players.
“It’s always a journey, every year,” Hackman said. “It’s neat looking back these past three years. I definitely learned more every year, but it’s still completely different when you start over – as a freshman.”
Not only does she act as a leader, but she is acutely aware of her role on the team.
“I know I’m not the star player or the record-holding senior,” Hackman admitted. “But, I do know that all the little things count. All the work that goes in when no one is watching – the little things that help the team day in and day out – that’s what I do.”
Now, with the bulk of college behind her, and as Charlottesville begins to feel more familiar, Hackman is looking to challenge herself again.
Although her plans are yet to be finalized, she aspires to volunteer in a third-world country, in order to help those who were not as privileged as herself.
“So many places have a need for it – anywhere from India to the Caribbean,” Hackman says.
Picking up and moving to a different country, then having to deal with a foreign culture and strange way of life seems like more than a casual challenge – it requires a solid confidence in one’s abilities. And Hackman attributes her poise, cofidence and ability to communicate with others to her involvement with Virginia lacrosse.
“Being on this team has taught me to work well with all different kinds of people and different personalities,” she said. “It has taught me when to work hard, when to play hard and how to get the job done. It has basically prepared me for anything I can think of that I might encounter in the future.”
And while that future is rapidly approaching, Hackman is fully prepared to take the lessons learned on the field at Klckner Stadium with her as she goes out into the world as a college graduate.
This past summer, Hackman accepted a fulltime job in advertising, which gave her a taste of the world beyond college. This year, in addition to her lacrosse duties, she’s working in marketing and promotions for the baseball team. To some, the leap from the corporate world to the one of international volunteering seems huge, but for her, it was just natural.
“It seems like a semi-logical next step,” Hackman said. “Obviously, college was a step up from high school and I think I’ve been challenged more than the average college student in my demanding schedule. And now, being a fourth-year and having that leadership role, it just seems like I should use that in another community.”
And that, Thomas Jefferson would argue, is what education is all about. In 1787, he was quoted as saying to James Madison, “Enable the students to see that it is their interest to preserve peace and order, and they will preserve them. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.”
Sarah Hackman, in her aspirations to utilize the skills that she has learned here in Charlottesville to the benefit of others, is the embodiment of this Jeffersonian ideal.
In the meantime, though, she’ll relish playing on the biggest stage for women’s lacrosse for one final season..