By Emma Deo
It can be difficult for many student athletes to find an identity outside of sports. This problem has been nonexistent for graduate student Michael Brockway, who has never struggled to find activities outside of Plattsburgh State’s cross country and track and field to be passionate about.
Brockway is finishing his degree in education from Plattsburgh’s five-year combined bachelors and masters program. He is also a consistent scorer on the men’s cross country and track and field teams, always bringing a cheerful, hardworking personality to the squad.
Plattsburgh’s proximity to the Adirondacks was a big part of what brought Brockway to the school, as the location gave him an opportunity to continue to do all the things he enjoys – most of which involve the natural world. Some of Brockway’s hobbies include rock climbing, whitewater kayaking, ice climbing and skiing.
“The best challenges in life are there for us already,” Brockway said, “There is no better test of your worth as a person or an outdoor recreator than knowing how you have trained and seeing how you can use these skills to accomplish great things outdoors.”
Last season, Brockway helped the men’s cross country team to a fifth-place finish at the SUNYAC Championship, its best finish since 2011.
“He’s been a really important part of the success and growth of the program,” cross country head coach Jordyn Naylon said.
Naylon described Brockway as a chatty and well-rounded guy who will always greet you with a hello.
“He’s not someone like me, where it’s like ‘What are you into?’ and I’m like, ‘Well I run and that’s all I do,” Naylon said.
The newest addition to Brockway’s list of outdoor hobbies is birdwatching. One of his roommates introduced him to the birdwatching community a few years ago, but since it is a more time-consuming activity, it stayed on the back burner until last year.
“I got injured and I had to take a lot of time off from running, and that woke me up to the idea that I can’t always get away with doing some of my more risky activities during my season, because they do have consequences if they go poorly, and I really hated the feeling of letting my team down,” Brockway said.
Learning about birdwatching in general and the complexities that it can showcase opened Brockway’s eyes to the diversity of the ecosystems all around.
“The difference between two types of trees, how close or far you are from a stream or a field, these little differences that we don’t even notice have such huge impacts on the way life can thrive in the world around us,” Brockway said. “Birds are just one piece of understanding the whole puzzle that is what happens around us all the time.”
Birdwatching is more than just a hobby for him — it has provided Brockway with an opportunity to perform a stress-free, undemanding activity in his free time which his other more laborious hobbies do not allow for.
During the minimal time Brockway spends indoors, he has found a passion for teaching. Going into college, Brockway was unsure of what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. Considering the leadership skills he took away from being involved in boy scouts from a young age, some great teachers and having parents who are also teachers, he realized that education would be the best profession for him.
Brockway is working as a science teacher at Willsboro Central School District, located about 30 minutes south of Plattsburgh.
“I was very lucky to get this position, it was really the dream scenario I was looking for. I do really love this area and now I have a reason to stay,” Brockway said. “I’m fulfilling a dream of mine to move to the Adirondacks and become a local.”
Among all of these hobbies, Brockway has also been able to find an identity in running. In high school in Washingtonville, New York, running gave Brockway a sense of value, allowing him to meet friends on his track team that he still cherishes today.
“Running will really always be a top priority for me outside of my work life,” Brockway said.
Plattsburgh teammate Graham Richard has been in the same mileage group as Brockway for quite some time now, getting to spend a lot of time running one-on-one with him. Richard praised Brockway as a great training partner as he’s not afraid to push the pace and keep the energy high when the workouts get tough.
“There’s never a dull moment,” Richard said. “Brock always has something to talk about.”
