Photo by Steve Buchanan Photography
St. Mary’s senior Hope Davis calls herself a “math brain.” It’s her favorite subject and it comes easily for her. And…it’s leading her to major in biomedical engineering in the fall at Pennsylvania’s Bucknell University, where she’ll attend the school on an academic and field hockey scholarship.
“I have always really enjoyed math and I like there’s a right answer with it,” Davis says. “I think it would be cool to be able to develop technology and prosthetics and things that can help people in the medical field. That would be my dream job.” Her excellence in academics will enable her to take on the difficult major. She ranks first in her class and takes five advanced-placement classes.
Davis, an Edgewater resident, also stays extremely busy with her volunteer work and extracurricular activities at St. Mary’s. She has a passion for volunteer work. She’s made about 500 masks at the Eclipse Group that were donated to the Greater Baltimore Medical Center and Anne Arundel Medical Center, and collected sanitary products for students at Tyler Heights Elementary School as part of a project for St. Mary’s and Severn School field hockey players.
On top of that, Davis worked as an office assistant for Annapolis’ St. Vincent de Paul Society, which provides financial emergency financial assistance to local residents. “It was a hands-on job,” she says. “It was eye-opening for me to see the poverty and people in need in the Annapolis community. I think a lot of the time you don’t realize all the people in need.”
She also belongs to the English Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, serves as co-vice president of the National Honor Society, and secretary of the Interact Club, which does community fundraisers.
“She’s a leader in the hallways of our school,” St. Mary’s Athletic Director Allison Fondale says. “I think it’s her maturity, leadership, character, and how she relates to people on and off the athletic field. Anyone you talk to—her teachers, coaches, and the athletes she’s around—says, ‘She is terrific.’”
Davis’ impact on the St. Mary’s field hockey program has been dramatic. The midfielder guided the Saints to an overall record of 28-8-2 in her three seasons as a varsity captain. More importantly, St. Mary’s won the Association of Independent Schools B Conference title in 2018. She finished the 2020 season with a flourish, totaling a team-leading 12 points (4 goals, 8 assists) in six games.
“If you look at our field hockey program and where it’s gone, it all really comes back to Hope,” Fondale explains. “She was a leader of our team when she was a sophomore. She took our team to the A Conference and won a championship. What a difference in our program she has made.”
The 5-foot-9 Davis gets excited talking about Bucknell, a school she picked over Cornell, Syracuse, and Johns Hopkins universities. “I wanted a great academic school and to be able to play hockey,” Davis says. “I just loved the campus and size of the school. That was very appealing to me. I love the team atmosphere. There was a real positive energy with the team and everybody felt like they wanted to be there.”
Davis developed her top-notch skills playing year-round for the Spark Field Hockey Club in Odenton for the past six years. She’s competed in tournaments in Massachusetts, New York, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.
“With Sparks, she is playing with some of the elite players in the area and they are competing against the top players in the country,” St. Mary’s field hockey Coach Karen Zarchin says. “It’s just another piece of the pie that makes Hope a special player.”
Above all, Hope’s leadership skills stand out the most to Zarchin and Fondale. “We established a student athlete in leadership program,” Fondale says. “It’s called Sale. We have 56 athletes in our group from all our sports and they vote on two seniors to lead the discussion. Her role is really key. She is captain of the captains. She has left a tremendous legacy at our school.”
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