Steven Tarquinio has been named the CUNYAC/Hospital for Special Surgery Scholar Athlete of the Month for March 2017. The senior from Smithtown, NY currently has a 3.94 GPA while double-majoring in Elementary Education and History. Tarquinio had an outstanding March while helping lead the Hunter Hawks to a #12 AVCA National Ranking by the end of the month. The Hawks went 9-3 during the month and had important victories over Baruch and nationally ranked NYU. The Hawks’ Middle Blocker lead the team in blocks and blocks per set (.95) and was second on the team in kills per set (2.54).
“I’ve been around volleyball almost my whole entire life. My mom played in high school and then continued playing beach volleyball as an adult. She always tells me I was trying to bump around a ball since I was a toddler,” says the Smithtown native. “However, I began playing competitively in 7th grade. I played club volleyball and traveled the country throughout high school and now I am completing my final year as a collegiate volleyball player.”
Following a prosperous high school volleyball career, Tarquinio looked to Hunter as his next destination. “I mainly chose Hunter for its excellence in academic and athletics. The men’s volleyball program always had a strong tradition of winning, and the Elementary Education program is very reputable. In addition, I love NYC and wanted to live there, and you cannot beat the price and diversity of a CUNY education.”
Tarquinio’s volleyball success only continued when he moved onto the next level at Hunter and into the CUNYAC. During his four-year career, Tarquinio was named a CUNYAC First Team All-Star for three consecutive seasons (2015, 2016 and 2017). This season saw Tarquinio reach career highs during a strong stretch for the Hawks during March. “Stevens was ranked #4 in the nation at the time, and we were #11 after just coming off a hot week defeating #10 Kean and #7 Wentworth. Despite the loss, my performance in the game showed that I was playing at an All American level, which was satisfying as my goal this year is to become one (I find out on April 24th). It also showed that our team was also playing at a competitive national level with the best teams in the country, which holds true today as we just won our 2nd CUNYAC Championship and have made the NCAA tournament.” said Tarquinio.
Off the court, Tarquinio’s schedule is a jam packed one. “I finished my History major last semester, and I was working on my senior thesis for most of the semester. But, this semester as an Elementary Education major, I am currently student teaching. I work in a 2nd grade class in East Harlem and I absolutely love it. However, this semester is chaotic as I am student teaching Monday-Friday, on top of 2 night classes a week, and a busy volleyball schedule.” When asked what he does in his free time, Tarquinio replied laughingly, “I do not have much free time, but when I do I like to go out with friends, watch Netflix or movies, and if the weather is nice spend my time relaxing in the nearest park.” Additionally, Steven is Hunter’s Co-President of their Student Athletic Advisory Committee with fellow Hawk Deborah Ramirez, “We share the presidency because I ran our weekly meetings and organized events during the Fall semester, as I had more time because I wasn’t student teaching. Now Debbie does most of that in the Spring because of my tight schedule not allowing me to be there for meetings and events. As president, I delegate tasks to my executive board to help hold meetings, plan community service events, plan athletic department wide team-building events, and act as a liaison between student athletes and college administration. Debbie and I are truly the face of athletics and try our best to fulfill their needs and represent them. We volunteered our time with the Ronald McDonald House, American Cancer Society, JDRF, Special Olympics and Central Park Conservancy throughout my tenure.”
The senior has been able to perform an impressive balancing act this semester while in season. “It is definitely not easy, especially this semester. I am student teaching Monday-Friday from 8-3 in East Harlem, then running downtown to Hunter for games/practice and/or class. I leave my dorm room at 7 am every morning and usually return around 9 pm. I am exhausted and it is challenging, but at the end of the day my athletics and academics are indeed balanced. Both are equally important to me, as I am eyeing a national championship for volleyball and eyeing graduation in May.” In order to keep up with these long days, Tarquinio takes his attitude from the volleyball court into the classroom, and also has some help from outside sources, “For me the similarity is that I work hard and give 100% in both the classroom and on the court. I also push myself to my limit, and allow my coach and professors to do the same.”
Following his illustrious career at Hunter, Tarquinio has three major takeaways that he will keep with him, “Three important lessons I have learned participating in collegiate athletics is teamwork, leadership, and resiliency. Teamwork seems obvious, but being able to collaboratively work with a group of people to achieve common goals is no easy task. However, the feeling of finally achieving that goal with a group of people who worked just as hard of you is so gratifying. Next, leadership was a huge lesson I learned. I have been a captain for 3 years, and over these three years I have learned so much on how to be an effective leader and guide my teammates to their goals. Lastly, resiliency is an essential lesson learned from athletics. Athletics revolves arounds winning and losing, sometimes injuries, and pushing yourself to the extremes. Losing, injuries, and pushing yourself can really knock you down, but it's how you get back up and better yourself is how you show true grit and who you really are. Therefore, if I could be resilient in my athletic endeavors I can be resilient in all endeavors I plan to tackle in the future. Failure does not have to be feared when I have learned so much about teamwork, leadership, and resiliency.”
“My greatest accomplishment has been just being able to represent the Hunter Hawk purple and gold on a national level. I was apart of this program my freshman year when we could not even make it out of our conference semifinals and now we are in the field of 12 nationally competitive fields competing for an NCAA National Championship. There is nothing better than seeing the substantial growth this program has seen in the last 4 years, and it is amazing to see that I have been a huge part of its success,” says the senior.
After graduation, Tarquinio sees his volleyball career continuing. “I have recently decided that I am going to take a year or two to play professional volleyball overseas. I am trying to sign a contract in Sweden, Italy, or Australia. If everything goes to plan, I will play over there and then return to the states and go to graduate school to get a master’s degree in Special Education. I plan to teach in NYC for a while and then hopefully become an administrator in the future.”
For now, Steven Tarquinio is March’s Scholar Athlete of the Month. “It means alot to me. I take pride in everything I do on and off the court, and to be able to be recognized for my hard work is a really rewarding experience. Sometimes the roles of an athlete in the classroom tends to get undermined, but this award shows that myself and many others I know work just as hard off the court as they do on the court,” said Tarquinio.
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