At two months old, senior Josie Arbuckle’s parents enrolled her in swimming classes. These classes turned into a serious passion.
18 years later, University of California Los Angeles swim commit Arbuckle is the 2023 recipient of the Davey O’Brien Scholarship.
Arbuckle joins a select list of student-athletes in North Texas nominated to receive this award and joins Lane Herbert ’21 and Holland Gary ’93 as the only three Hornet recipients.
As the winner, Arbuckle will receive $30,000 which can be used towards room and board, tuition and books.
The scholarship requires that a student-athlete play a high school varsity sport in the Southwest Preparatory Conference, University Interscholastic League, Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools or Texas Christian Athletic Fellowship in addition to fulfilling their academic requirements.
Every year Greenhill nominates one student-athlete who demonstrates qualities of leadership, character and community service for the scholarship, in addition to obtaining academic accomplishments.
Arbuckle fills her school schedule with academics, swimming and the fall musical by focusing her time on the task at hand and taking advantage of the unstructured time Greenhill offers.
“I am a strong believer that if you want to do something you have the ability to make time for it,” said Arbuckle.
Her athletic career has consisted of both highs and lows, one of the lows being her battle with scoliosis, she said.
“My experience with [scoliosis] and the brace treatment has been a challenge, one that I don’t think any of the other applicants have,” said Arbuckle.
However, finding a way to manage her time and work through the challenges has given Arbuckle a unique perspective on life and taught her important lessons, she said.
“It has taught me how to do hard things better and handle challenges that arise in a more productive way,” said Arbuckle.
Although Arbuckle does not see herself seeking a professional swimming career, she said she loves the sport and hopes to continue to perform well in college competitions.
“I see myself at UCLA just working really hard,” Arbuckle said. “I want to make the travel team, hopefully, my freshman year, and perform well at dual meets and conferences. I also hope to qualify for the [NCAA championships] at some point during my college career, which will be pretty tough but with the right environment and training I could get it done.”
