Crofton Native Rises to the Top of Her Game, On and Off the Field

Lyndse Hokanson of Crofton, Md. will graduate this year from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. after excelling for four years in academics and athletics.

And even before she earns her cap and gown, she's a big step closer to achieving her career goals. Hokanson graduated from South River High School in Edgewater, Md. as an Advanced Placement Scholar in the top five percent of her class. She was named a Scholar All-American for soccer and caught recruiters' attention before her junior year.

Now, Hokanson is a senior at George Mason's Honors College, recently inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. She also received the Bruce Manchester Outstanding Academic Achievement in Communication Award, one of the highest honors for a communication major. 

Hokanson played for Mason's women's soccer team for four years; two of them, as captain. She earned A-10 Second Team All-Conference and All-Academic team honors and was named a George Mason Provost Scholar Athlete for three years. Hokanson also has worked with the Mason Athletics staff on game day operations for various sports, including men's volleyball, track and field and men's soccer. 

Hokanson has served as a Mason Ambassador since she was a freshman, leading campus tours to prospective students; in fact, she did so well in the role, she won the 2012-2013 President's Award for Ambassadors. 

During her time at Mason, Hokanson has participated in community service events, including the Mason Blood Drive for four years. She's also been involved in mission trips for Chi Alpha campus ministry, and the annual Love Week campaigns for Campus Crusade for Christ to help children overseas in countries including Botswana, Haiti and Sudan.  Hokanson has taken part in Relay for Life to raise money for cancer research, and helped organize a major soccer tournament for the Catholic Archdiocese of Arlington involving 150 children on Mason's Fairfax campus. Hokanson also volunteered at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Gala in Washington, D.C. to raise money for diabetes research. 

She says she's been exploring Washington, D.C., something she concedes she didn't take advantage of much even though she grew up in Maryland. "Even though I lived in Maryland my whole life, I have been to D.C. more times in my four years here at Mason than I was in my first 18 years of life at home," she explains.  

Hokanson is well on her way to achieving her dream of coaching for women's collegiate soccer; she has accepted a graduate assistant coaching position with a women's university soccer team in Georgia, that also will give her the opportunity to earn a master's degree. But she probably won't allow the Washington, D.C. region to become a distant memory. "After I finish my two years in Georgia, I think I'd like to come back to this area," says Hokanson, "but we'll see where life takes me."