Humans of Hillsdale is an ongoing series spotlighting Hillsdale College student-athletes, spotlighting the people behind the uniforms.
Next in the series is Charger softball player Madison Rathbun
WORDS: Calli Townsend
PHOTO: Calli Townsend
GRAPHIC: Carmen Botha
Maddy Rathbun — Making Friends
Class of 2021 | Softball | Oak Harbor, Ohio
Maddy Rathbun has a heart for people. This softball player desires more than success on the field. She aspires to be a friend to everyone she meets.
"I love getting to know people by randomly involving them in a conversation," she said. "I've always done that but I've just realized that's a 'me' thing because not everyone really does that."
She said that even though she's on a pretty big team, she makes it a goal to have a personal relationship with everyone.
"Having friends in general makes things easier," she said. "God didn't create man to be alone."
There are many people in Maddy's life that help her and she says she's grateful for them all.
"There are so many influential people in my life and I grab onto all the good things about each person," she said.
Each person in her family has taught her important lessons. She said her mom taught her to talk about things and her dad taught her to stop dwelling on the emotional drawbacks of trying to be perfect all the time. Maddy has a strong relationship with her stepbrother who has helped create her attitude of friendliness and her desire to include others.
Maddy and her stepbrother became friends when they were 10 years old and he was always good at including her in whatever he was doing.
"We were super close growing up and were best friends from the start," she said. "Now we're both in college and whenever we're together things never change and we pick up right back where we left off. He's great at including people and I think that gets underrated a lot."
But the most important relationship of them all is her relationship with God, Maddy says. She says she struggles with committing to so many things and wanting to be fully engaged and involved in them all. She is not only on the softball team, but she is an RA in one of the freshman dorms, a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, and participates in several Bible studies.
"I want people to know that the only reason I've been able to handle all of the things is because of Christ," she said. "My relationship with Him has helped me accept I won't be perfect because His plan is for me to be doing all these things."
As she pursues God's plan for her life, she is studying marketing management and is open to whatever God has in store for her to do with that degree.
"I want to help people and get to know people, but I don't know what kind of job that means," she said. "But I can't do anything to mess up His plan."