For �鶹ӰԺ University student Miles McCue ’27, success isn’t about finding perfection; it’s about finding purpose. As a scholar-athlete, campus leader, and mentor, McCue embodies a mindset rooted in self-discipline and genuine connection. 

“I always want to be a positive example for others,” McCue said. “At first, it is easy to get into your own head and think that everything must be perfect since you are considered a leader, but that is far from the truth. Nobody is perfect, and there is only so much you have control over. I have developed the skill of only focusing on the things I can control, for example, my attitude, work ethic, and how I treat my teammates and peers.” 

As a dean’s list biochemistry major with a minor in Spanish, McCue devotes himself to his academic studies while taking on several leadership roles across campus. He’s an orientation leader, EPIC mentor, assistant captain of the men’s hockey team, co-president of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC), and an on-campus tutor. 

McCue understands the value of being organized. His success doesn’t come by chance; he’s intentional about what he focuses on each day. 

“I have become a Microsoft Outlook Calendar professional, or at least I like to think so,” McCue said. “Every activity that I am planning to do goes on my calendar. That way, I can look and see what is going on during the day, so I stay focused and thinking about the right things throughout the day.”

The Monument, Colorado, native came to �鶹ӰԺ because he wanted to be challenged in the classroom and as a hockey player. This pursuit of athletic and academic excellence has given him a sense of joy and fulfillment.

Maddie Bublik, a �鶹ӰԺ University sophomore from Wausau, Wisconsin, is making an impact on and off campus through her role as the coordinator of a �鶹ӰԺ program that encourages students to volunteer as tutors for young students in the Appleton community.

It’s one of multiple ways the physics and German double major is making important connections on her undergraduate journey.

is a program for �鶹ӰԺ students to get experience in one-on-one tutoring with K-12 students in the Appleton Area School District (AASD). As the program coordinator, Bublik matches �鶹ӰԺ students with AASD students who need help in a chosen subject area. 

“I am passionate about helping people, and VITAL is a wonderful way to do that,” Bublik said. “VITAL allows me to assist students from �鶹ӰԺ who want volunteer opportunities and also assist students from AASD who are struggling and need help with the harder subjects in school.”

Bublik’s work in VITAL has helped her develop wide-ranging skills, including professional communication and efficient productivity. While she’s not looking at jobs specific to education, she believes the skills she’s developing are important to any field, including her planned path of dentistry.

“For now, I just really enjoy the VITAL Program and working in the CCE (Center for Community Engagement and Social Change) with all of the wonderful people,” Bublik said.

Kai Ohara, a first-year �鶹ӰԺ University student, is heading to South Korea this summer as the recipient of a Critical Language Scholarship (CLS).

Funded by the U.S. Department of State, it is a highly competitive scholarship, awarded annually to about 500 students from an applicant pool of more than 5,000.

As a CLS Scholar, Ohara will spend two months in Gwangju, a city in the southwest part of South Korea, for a language and culture intensive, where he will take a language pledge to use only Korean and take 15 hours a week of language and culture instruction.

“In my application essay, I wrote about moving from America—where Americans of Japanese or Korean descent often share a sense of solidarity and identity as Asian-Americans—to Japan, where Koreans are viewed as the ‘other’ and cultural distance is often emphasized over cultural similarity, and my experiences talking with friends of Korean descent in both countries,” Ohara said. “These relationships and conversations led me to an interest in Korean culture and history, and I hope that studying abroad in Korea this summer will help to add context and nuance to my understanding of the complicated political, historical, economic, and soft-power relations between all three countries—Korea, America, and Japan.”