Three school Three years…Hello Aggie friends and family! For those of you who don’t know me my name is Madison Hardy. I will be a red shirt junior this next year here at NMSU. I am a transfer student athlete; NMSU is school number three on my crazy life journey that I have embarked on. Really New Mexico State is my 8th school in 8 years, I went to 2 middle schools and 3 high schools stretching from Reno Nevada to Placerville California. All of the moving around I did before I graduated high school made it difficult for me to be eligible to attend a Division 1 program right out of high school. I was devastated when I received this news, my plan was to come straight to NMSU and join the Aggie family.
I started looking at Junior Colleges that I could attend till I could transfer to NMSU. I had a few options and chose a school called Iowa Western Community College located in Council Bluffs Iowa. I was a dual athlete there; I played volleyball in the fall and ran track in the spring. The volleyball program was one of the best in its division. We finished the season with a 58-6 record and 4th at Nationals. Running track in the spring was a fun experience; it is so different than volleyball. I ran the 4 x 4 and 400 hundred-meter hurdles. Those are very difficult events and I pushed my self to limits I didn’t think were possible. Iowa Western taught me so much about myself, and attending a smaller Junior College was an excellent way to ease myself into the college experience. I was tested mentally and physically everyday, at the end of my freshmen year I felt so accomplished and proud of myself for working hard and making something good out of a not so good situation. My volleyball coach there was offered another job, so once again I was faced with a decision to make. I was offered to play at Hawaii Pacific University, a Division 2 school on the island of Oahu. Since my coach and many of my teammates were leaving Iowa Western I decided to take the offer and move to Hawaii.
Hawaii Pacific was an adventure in itself; I absolutely love the beach and the ocean. I was able to play beach volleyball practically everyday which is something that I enjoy very much. Hawaii is a very beautiful place, and I grew a lot as an athlete and a person. Unfortunately the level of volleyball was not as competitive as I had hoped. As many of you know University of Hawaii is in our league, when I was living in Hawaii I went to watch NMSU play UH. I will never forget that moment when I realized how important it was to me that I compete at the highest-level possible, and felt like I belonged on the floor with the Aggies. So my mind was set, I was to be an Aggie. I got my release from HPU and talked to coach Jordan. That summer I made my plans to move to Las Cruces.
My journey has been a very eventful one so far, and all my experiences have shaped me into the person I am today. I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, I know where I came from and how hard I had to work to become an Aggie. I wouldn’t change my journey for anything. Everything that I have gone through has made me a better person and I feel so blessed for being able to be an Aggie. NMSU will be my last school I promise.
Madison Hardy #12
