2 days Ago By Lauren Rosenberg
In front of friends, family, teachers and students at Marshall Christian Academy, senior Macy Hester signed her National Letter of Intent to attend Ouachita Baptist University on a swimming scholarship. With purple balloons, the letters OBU, an OBU banner and trophies of her accolades, the set up lit up the room like Hester has lit up many lives. Numerous people got up to say a prayer for Hester, reciting thoughtful words of love that made the whole crowd emotional.
There was pride beaming from each individual and no one was prouder than her parents. “She has a great heart for swim and no matter what it is, she has a spirit of excellence whether it’s academics, being a good person in not just sports. God has always been there for her first and that’s been really her success,” said Macy’s dad, James Hester.
“Macy has always been an easy keeper and always a perfectionist with whatever she’s done. Whether it be academics, her swim career, her bedroom, her studies or anything like that. She’s always been a perfectionist and wanted to do her best and be her best.
We’re just very proud of her, accomplishments, where that’s taken her and where it’s going to take her. We’re very excited for this next chapter for her,” said Macy’s mom, Gina Hester. Hester joins a swim team that is currently ranked at no.
25 in the CSCAA Top 25 poll as of Nov. 18. The Division 2 school, located in Arkadelphia, Arkansas is known for having some of the most consistent and competitive men’s and women’s swim programs.
But Hester’s story of how she ended up committing to Ouachita Baptist was one of adversity. When Hester started swimming as a kid, she knew her calling from God was competing in the water. She was always a self-motivator who could not stand losing.
James Hester recalls, “In Nacogdoches, we had a swim meet when she was [in elementary school] and she was one of these [people] where at every swim event, if she did not touch the wall first and get first, she was very upset. She’s very determined. I remember her warming up after a swim event and she was crying because she didn’t get first place.
That’s how it was being a dad with her. She’s very motivated, self motivated. She needed no motivation from mom or dad.
That’s what you heard today with coaches and teachers. She’s always been very disciplined, very motivated. It’s almost like Macy, just relax.
You’re going to do great.” With the help of her mom, Hester was able to get into swimming as a kid with ease. “My whole life, swim has been a part of me.
My mom has a swim business and I grew up doing summer league swim team. When I entered my freshman year of high school, I started a club team. I was only going to practice once or twice a week and then as I became a sophomore, I got my license and started making it to more practices and that’s when I came to the conclusion that I wanted to swim in college,” said Hester.
Despite knowing she wanted to continue her academic and athletic career in college, Hester went through a rough time when she suffered shoulder injuries. Just when she was ready to call it quits, she used her faith in God to motivate her to come back. “As time went on, I developed some shoulder injuries and with some other decisions, I decided to take a break from swimming and call it quits.
I thought that chapter of my life was over. For the past 11 months, I’ve been doing other things and letting my shoulder rest. But the Lord really brought back that desire back into my heart and He just opened the door to me to go to [Ouachita Baptist],” said Hester.
After talking to the coaches, they offered her a scholarship. Aside from loving she coaches, Hester absolutely loves the school and she knows she’s going to love being a part of the swim team. Aside from signing, Hester likes how close Arkadelphia is to Marshall.
Being around two and a half hours away, Hester still gets the out of state college experience while having the ability to easily drive home to be with family whenever she has free time. “I’m very much a home body. I love my family and I’ve grown up in the small town of Marshall my whole life so it’s a relief that I can come home on the weekends or when there’s any big family [event] happening, I’ll hopefully be able to make.
I love Arkansas and we go camping there all the time so I’m very grateful the distance is not too bad,” said Hester. Hester is so excited for this next chapter in her life. She can’t wait to get back in the water but also to finish out the school year and dive into her academic career in college.
“I’m over the moon excited for this next chapter. I’m not currently on a swim team but I’m very excited to get back and start doing it collegiately. I can’t wait to meet new people, new coaches and have new experiences with new coaches.
Overall, I’m really excited for my academics. I’m going to [major] in elementary education because I love kids and I want to be a teacher. I also just want to soak in the rest of my senior year and I’m looking forward to the next step,” said Hester.
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