As a rule, a laundry-list of distinctive achievements is modular fare for a commencement speaker. But 1 of Alexandra Zakutney’s achievements stands unsocial – she is the archetypal Phoenix who’s risen to the challenge of preparing for aesculapian schoolhouse portion besides arsenic a D1 volleyball player, achieved 1,000 kills to her name.
But she won’t instrumentality each the recognition herself. “To get 1,000 kills you request a good setter.” Another Zakutney amusive fact: she’s a autochthonal French speaker, and besides wholly fluent successful English. “My full acquisition was in French. Green Bay was the archetypal schoolhouse wherever I studied successful English. ”Plus she blends Canadian politeness with Wisconsin nice. “I conjecture I do say ‘pardon’ a lot.”
The Zakutney household has devoted overmuch of their lives to the satellite of collegiate athletics. Her ma and dada met playing volleyball, her brother is simply a gymnast and her sister besides plays volleyball. Zakutney’s personal accolades connected the UW-Green Bay women’s volleyball team merit peculiar designation connected their own—named to the Horizon League’s All-Freshman Team successful 2018-19, Horizon League’s First Team successful 2020, ’21 and ’22, Player of the Week 4 times, the All-Tournament Team in 2022 and selected to the All-Academic Team 3 consecutive years (an grant awarded to a constricted fig of athletes.)
Zakutney grew up successful Ottawa, Ontario, a 777-mile trek eastbound skirting three of the 5 Great Lakes. In precocious school, she was a rising endowment in Canada, but her nine didn’t play successful a batch of American tournaments, so she flew beneath the radar successful the states. In fact, it was a chap Canadian on the Green Bay squad that made her transportation with the coaches.
She admits to being amazed being recruited by Green Bay. “I had a lot of offers successful Canada, truthful I truly wasn’t readying to instrumentality the leap and go to a antithetic country.” But her member had taken the leap earlier, attending Penn State to enactment successful gymnastics. And portion Penn State whitethorn person the borderline successful full enrollment, UW-Green Bay did have its ain qualities that attracted Zakutney.
“I besides knew they had a truly bully quality biology department. That’s truly what I wanted to survey successful college. I was funny in the subject aspect.” Seems the health-sciences besides ran successful the Zakutney family. Her mom is an occupational therapist and dad’s Senior Vice President, Digital Health and Cardiac Technology and Chief Information and Technology Officer astatine the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. So, increasing up, she was already acquainted with infirmary settings, but successful the outpouring of 2018, her aesculapian experiences were astir to go acold much personal.
She was starting arsenic a freshman, which was antithetic successful itself, playing UW-Madison. “First constituent of the crippled I went to deed the ball, trying to get a kill, tilted my assemblage slightly, landed and conscionable heard a large pop.”
That “big pop” was a torn anterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament, positive the lateral and medial meniscus successful her near knee. She was injured successful March, waited until June to person surgery, and began a year-long rehabilitation. Then successful 2020 COVID deed and everyone was sent home. She returned to Ottawa—and an uncertain future. “It was benignant of nerve-wracking,” Zakutney recalls, “because I didn’t know if they would fto planetary students return.”
But return, she did—both to Green Bay and to volleyball, with the support of family, friends, coaches, teammates and professors. “I was truly fortunate to beryllium portion of a programme that appreciates everyone on the team, adjacent erstwhile you’re hurt.”
For Zakutney it was ne'er astir the size of UW-Green Bay, but the generous tone that defines being a Phoenix. As she explains it, “It’s not a precise large school, but I’ve gotten truly adjacent to the professors. They truly bash privation to assistance you.”
And adding to this already agelong database of achievements, there’s 1 much twist in Zakutney’s communicative (though, thankfully, it has thing to bash with a knee.) She was calved with a proceeding nonaccomplishment and has been wearing proceeding immunodeficiency since the age of two, which brought its ain uncertainty and challenges. “I was beauteous tense astir however I would bash successful college.” Zakutney recalls, “If I would person occupation proceeding the professors, if I would have to inquire for peculiar assistance and however hard that would be.”
Added to that situation was missing classes due to the fact that of her volleyball commitments, knowing that communicating with her professors was even more essential. Yes, she had doubts, but ne'er fto that clasp her back. “I decided conscionable to instrumentality the leap. Try thing caller and get retired of my comfort zone. Now present I am, 4 and fractional years later, acceptable to graduate!”
As for the future? “I’m presently studying for the MCAT. That’s a batch of brain power. But that’s thing I privation to bash truthful I’m truly determined to execute it and spot wherever it takes me.”
Proof you can’t support a bully Phoenix down.
English (US)