I t’s been 10 years since Libby Bochniak, ’21, started playing volleyball. She’s become quite a hit since then. The class of 2021 valedictorian was named the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year in June 2020-2021. In July, she earned a spot on the first nation-wide Academic All-America® Division II Volleyball team by the College Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA). 

“When they told me the news, I was shocked, excited and honored,” said Bochniak. “It was a very nice ending to a great four years at Georgia College. It almost seemed like everything was wrapped in a bow.”

According to Bochniak, you don’t have to be the biggest or tallest player to be successful in volleyball. There’s a lot more team strategy in the sport than most people realize.

“It's not just about using brute force to score points,” she said. “The team atmosphere creates a lot of energy. We had each other's backs 100 percent of the time. And when I did something, even if it was the smallest thing, it felt like I was on top of the world when my teammates came up to give me a high five. And then I got to reciprocate that feeling. I just loved that part of it.”

Being a student-athlete tremendously helped with study habits. From a young age, Bochniak learned to stay ahead of school work, since competitive volleyball took up a lot of her time. She would meet with her teachers in advance to make sure she stayed on task with her lessons.

“These study habits transferred to when I was a student-athlete at Georgia College,” said Bochniak. “I knew right away I had to approach my professors and explain my situation to them. I became more proactive and purposeful with my time than a typical college student.”

Her study habits were so on point they helped her achieve valedictorian status. Bochniak was one of 15 students from the Class of May 2021 to receive the designation for keeping a perfect 4.0 throughout her college career. 

“I always knew when I came to Georgia College I needed to perform well in my sport and the classroom,” she said. “I had to hold myself and the people around me to a higher standard. So, I just expected a lot from myself.”

Over the years, Bochniak trained with some of the best volleyball players and coaches in the country. This helped her achieve such high rankings. Forming a connection with Head Coach Gretchen Krumdieck also helped.

“She really shaped me into the person that I am today,” said Bochniak. “And, Gretchen is a lot more focused on forming the whole individual rather than just the person on the court.”

Krumdieck would often cook for the team at her house.

“She loved to cook and bake for us,” said Bochniak. “It just felt like a second home to us. She always put people first.”

When the team had a bad season during her junior year, it was hard for everybody.

“But we still loved each other,” she said. “Coach Krumdieck said we were going to get through this, and our teammates were still our best friends. This was her saying, ‘I'm here for you.’ A lot of my teammates went into her office to talk about volleyball and even personal things. And she was just there for them—a shoulder to lean on—like our mom away from our moms.”

This example of camaraderie and nurturing had an impact on Bochniak. She plans to put people first in everyday life too.

“Relationships and the things that you're doing matter,” she said. “They matter more than the awards you get or the money you make. Instead, invest your time in people.”

Although Bochniak liked all of her biology professors, one stands out—Dr. Christopher Burt. 

“I think all my professors exemplified what it means to be passionate about what you do,” she said. “Not only were they great professors, but they were also great scientists. You develop that passion with them. But Dr. Burt, in my microbiology class, helped me get to where I am today. I would not be going to medical school if it wasn’t for him, because he saw potential in me that I didn't really see. He wouldn't let me stop before I had reached that potential.” 

Bochniak plans to pursue her journey to medical school, beginning with Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee, where she’s already started classes. Although Bochniak hasn’t claimed a specialty yet, the team concepts she learned at Georgia College will help her go far in her career.

“I’m up for the challenge,” she said. “Being on a team sport, you have many individuals from different backgrounds and lifestyles, who have different personalities, and you bring them together for one common goal. And you’ve got to figure out how to work together to get there.” 

Bochniak knows the value teamwork brings in working with others.

“I think it's one reason that team sports and athletics are so important for kids,” Bochniak said. “I just love the teamwork aspect of sports. I know how to deal with people that maybe don't see eye-to-eye with me. And that doesn't mean that we have to yell and scream at each other. It just means we have to hear each other out before drawing a conclusion.”

Bochniak is confident the teamwork aspect she learned from playing volleyball will provide her with the ability to navigate through differences in people and to make hard medical decisions.

“I think that’s definitely going to be useful in the medical field,” she said. “There are different ways of doing things. You're going to have patients that come in who are completely different than the patient you just saw. Maybe they have the same illness, and they want to be fixed in completely different ways. Being flexible and understanding that aspect of life is really going to help me.”