For many students, college is a full-time commitment. For Zariel Macchia, it’s two. The Long Island native is not only a freshman in BYU Electrical Engineering, but also a part of the BYU’s Women’s Cross Country Team.
Macchia was originally drawn to engineering from her experiences in high school. An avid learner, Macchia found herself drawn to many interests–whether it was culinary or art, math or science. She considered careers in culinary, marine biology, and even law, but ultimately landed on engineering because she felt it was a good mix of her passions in both STEM and art. When she toured the BYU Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, she was fascinated by all of the possibilities an Electrical Engineering degree would open up for her.
Macchia loves the hands-on aspect of the engineering program, something she got a taste of in her Freshman Project class. She especially enjoyed her time in the soldering lab as part of the class, noting that working with physical components was exciting. One of the projects in the class involved working with Wi-Fi packets and computer networking, something Macchia did not have prior experience with. “It was kind of out there for engineering,” Macchia said, “but it was really interesting.”
Zariel also currently works in BYU's Cleanroom, doing undergraduate research with Dr. Aaron Hawkins.
While math and science were always at the heart of Macchia’s interests, running was in her blood. Both of her parents were collegiate runners, and ever since Macchia could remember, she wanted to run as well. In fifth grade, Macchia tried to convince her parents to let her run in their local library’s 5K because she was set on beating her mom, but they told her that she didn’t need to start running so young. The next year as a sixth grader, her parents agreed she could run in the 5K, and Macchia finished in the top 3 for women and beat her mother’s time.
As with many student athletes, Macchia has to balance her full course load with days filled with training and competitions. This semester, Macchia has competed in six separate competitions, placing 13th in the Big 12 Championships, and finished higher than any other seventh runner in the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. Zariel attributes her success to a few things: her ability to work with her professors around missing class, blocking off her schedule to do homework during traveling days, and compartmentalizing engineering and running.
“When I’m in school, I'm thinking about school. When I’m training or in the weight room, that’s my focus. Just splitting that up is helpful.” Macchia says, “Although sometimes when I'm the weight room, I'll be watching a physics review video. It seeps together sometimes.”
Macchia’s training regimen includes swim, cross training, and weight training along with going on runs with her team and meeting with the team’s personal trainers. Even in her personal time, Macchia needs to dedicate time to recovery, stretching, and extra exercises to be at her best. “All the time you have to be intentional about every decision you make,” she says, emphasizing that every choice she makes adds up over time to determine how she performs.
Luckily, Macchia has found a supportive community in her team. The Women’s Cross Country Team’s motto is “Run4Her,” which means something different for each of the girls. Macchia reflects that her teammates and coach Taylor have shown her what it means to “Run4Her,” and how each girl on the team puts forth their best effort. “We run for each other. They’ve shown me what it means to be all in for each other.”
Macchia’s advice to her past self or anyone younger than her is, “Enjoying the process has been the most helpful way to have fun in everything I do. It's good to have goals and be driven to reach those goals. And you should be excited when you finally get there. But also, enjoy the journey to get there. Don't forget to enjoy the moment that you're in right now.”
