“Ugh!” Maggie grunts across the field getting frustrated at the Italian coach for yelling at her to do something. She has no clue what he is saying because he does not speak a lick of English. She cannot ask her other teammates what he said for they do not speak English either. She just looks at her friends will some confusion, then gets back to the pick-up game of soccer she was playing in Italy.
Maggie Connell, from Columbus, Ohio, spent two long weeks in Italy for a soccer tournament. Her school’s team fought hard and played well, but was still defeated. In the mountains of Italy, Maggie enjoyed the scenery and the thrill of playing pick-up games in the local towns. While Maggie was there she, and a few of her teammates, were able to join another local team that was short a few players. Even though she had trouble communicating with her new teammates, she loved every minute of the informal games they played.
For two and a half years Maggie and her family lived near Tampa, Florida, where she was born. Her dad then decided to work in Columbus, Ohio. Maggie grew up in Ohio with her dad, mom, and brother—Ray, Andrea, and David. She is most like her dad, always siding with him in arguments, enjoying the same genre of music, and having an interest in science. Her dad is an anesthesiologist at a hospital close to home and her mom is a “stay-at-home mom.” Maggie tries to get along with her brother, but no sibling relationship is perfect. Growing up she enjoyed playing video games, but considers her “prime gaming age” to be in the era of the Nintendo 64. Her favorite games are Super Smash Brothers and Zelda. Even though she is older, she enjoys playing video games with her friends and occasionally she will play with her brother.
Since Maggie’s dad is an anesthesiologist, he gets very little vacation time. When he takes his vacation they cram as much as they can into those two weeks. They go to a yearly family reunion in Canada, which is not much of a drive since they live right there in Ohio. While her dad is off, they go on long road trips and drive all over the country. In one week they drove from Ohio, to South Carolina, to Virginia Beach, where her dad went to a reunion at Eastern Virginia Medical School, and then back to Ohio. She did not really care for the thirty hours of driving in one week.
Maggie is coming to Virginia Tech to earn a degree in chemistry. Her dad persuaded her to choose a chemistry degree because it shows that she is trying to challenge herself and can handle a tough major. Although she has an interest in science she is also intrigued by art and wants to double major in some form of art. She loves music, listening to just about everything out there, but enjoys classic rock the best. She calls it, “My comfort music.” She gets her love of music from her dad who plays his iPod continuously throughout their house. As a junior in high school, Maggie took AP Art. She did not care for her teacher, to say the least, but that did not turn her away from the subject. She loves paintings and loves things that are “put together.” In her thesis portfolio of mixed media painting for AP Art, she put girls in outfits that matched their surroundings.
In Columbus, Ohio, Maggie went to a small school, where she graduated with only 56 people in her class. When she was younger she hated her small school, but now that she is older she loves that she comes from a small school. She likes that she knows everyone and has a lot of friends who have very similar interest as her own. One of the best things she likes about her small school is the relationships she has with her teachers. “They become your friends,” said Maggie, “I have four of my teachers’ phone numbers, who text me.” One of her favorite teachers was her eleventh grade English teacher. He pushed her like no other teacher had and she hated him for it at the time, but after it was over she loved him for it. She said before that class, she was shy and not very confident in herself, but after that class she was more outgoing and confident in who she was and what she could do.
Her roommate, Clara Haverly, who she has only known for a week, says that she is a delight to live with. She said that Maggie loves video games and is very “chill.” Clara thinks that she is very friendly, and allows her to borrow her things. When Maggie was asked, “If you could be a pirate or a ninja, what would you be?” She said a pirate because they are laid back and ninjas are too uptight. Maggie prefers cats to dogs and is very content with her two cats at home, but she has always wanted a dog just to see how it would be.
Maggie has been very fortunate to have gone through life without any notable tragic experiences. She does not have any one experience that has made her the person she is today. She is shaped by her friends and family, her love for science and art, and as she put it, “It’s the small stuff that shapes me.”
