Saints on the Hill: A Journey of Patience, Passion, and Success

An unwavering formula for success has served Eliza Beaudin well over the years, and she was eager to share that formula during her recent Saints on the Hill presentation. 

Eliza, a Psychology Teacher and Assistant Coach for three different sports at Canterbury, was a standout ice hockey player at Elmira College and, earlier this winter, skated for Team USA at the World University Games. But, she insisted to students, it is not what she accomplished but how she accomplished it that is most important.

She achieved plenty both on and off the ice during her Elmira journey—going from being the “15th or 16th forward on the team” at the outset to scoring her 100th career point and being named a first-team All-American her senior year. Eliza attributed that progression to five key attributes: patience, academic focus, leadership, consistency, and doing everything “through my heart.” 

Patience was key after Eliza’s coach at Elmira initially told her she would be starting from the bottom. “That was really hard to hear,” she recalled. “I was committing to a program that had, in the previous year, lost in the National Championship game, so I was competing against a lot of great players. I had to be patient, put my head down, work hard, and focus on what I wanted.” It paid off. Eliza ended her freshman year with 34 points, which was top five on the team, and was named MVP of the United Collegiate Hockey Conference playoffs after scoring three goals in the championship game.

Eliza also stressed the absolute importance of academics. “When you are a senior interviewing for jobs, people do not ask how many goals you scored or how many assists you had. They don’t ask about your batting average or your three-point percentage,” she said. “They ask what you did in the classroom, about your academic experience and success. I urge you to always put that before your sport or passion because it is essential.”

Leadership is something Eliza takes very seriously as well. She was proud to be chosen by her peers as a team captain her senior year but explained that anyone can step up and be a leader. “People often forget that, even if you do not have a letter on your chest or you are not an ‘official’ leader on your team, you can still speak up and be a voice of reason,” she said. “You can go out and lead by example. I took it upon myself to not only be a leader at the rink but in the classroom and the Elmira community.” She summed up what it means to lead with her favorite quote: “How you make others feel about themselves says a lot about you.”

She added that success also comes from maintaining consistency in whatever you set out to do. “People who are the best at their craft make a choice every single day to be good at what they do,” she shared. “You do not pick and choose the days in practice or in games where you want to be at your best. Remember that whatever you do in sports and in life, be consistent.”

Finally, there is passion. “I have put my whole heart and soul into everything I’ve done, especially during my time at Elmira,” Eliza said. 

Patience…academics…leadership…consistency…passion. They helped drive Eliza to success, and she sees the same path for our Saints. “When you do all of these, cool things happen,” she told them. “You will step away from something that you are incredibly proud of.”