Maddie Monahan ’21, a computer science and business major and entrepreneurship minor, was Lehigh President John D. Simon’s guest on the university’s new Go-Getter Podcast Series. They discussed her passions, how becoming a student-athlete mentor taught her how to talk about failure, and her transformative experience at LehighSiliconValley, an immersive program presented by Lehigh and the Baker Institute.
“A lot of the things that I didn’t know about myself I kind of figured out at LehighSiliconValley,” she told Simon.
A defender/midfielder on Lehigh’s field hockey team, Monahan connected at LehighSiliconValley with Ann Lewnes ’83, chief marketing officer of Adobe, and Sandy Stelling ’91, managing director at Alaska Airlines, who asked students about their “individual story” but it couldn’t be anything they’d add to their resume. The activity made her think about how often in high school she was told how good she was at passing and making connections on the hockey field.
“That’s kind of what ties everything about me together ...I really like finding connections,” Monahan said. “I draw energy off of other people and I find passion and excitement and energy in doing things that allow me to grow my network or take advantage of all the opportunities that come my way, even if sometimes it does make my plate a little too heavy to carry.”
Monahan scored her first collegiate field hockey points last year, including the initial goal in Lehigh’s first win in school history against Boston University.
