{"id":73862,"date":"2025-12-03T03:48:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T03:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/73862\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T03:48:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T03:48:09","slug":"making-a-home-in-el-paso-the-prospector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/73862\/","title":{"rendered":"Making a home in El Paso \u2013 The Prospector"},"content":{"rendered":"

Graduation is just days away, and for many University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) students that moment marks the beginning of something new, often far from home. It\u2019s a familiar pattern as athletes and non-athletes alike earn their degrees and head to bigger cities, bigger programs and reach bigger opportunities.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some athlete graduates choose to stay in the Sun City, building careers and lives beyond their sport. Former UTEP women\u2019s basketball player Jareica Hughes did it years ago, returning to become an assistant coach for the very team she once played on.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, senior mechanical engineering major and beach volleyball player Madison Hill may be following a similar path. A four-year UTEP athlete and one of the first members of the university\u2019s beach volleyball team, Hill is graduating but not necessarily leaving her hometown.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Born and raised in El Paso, Hill briefly considered schools like Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University. Ultimately, choosing UTEP allowed her to pursue engineering, compete in both indoor and beach volleyball and stay close to the community that shaped her.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI have family here, and a good community,\u201d Hill said. \u201cStaying here, there\u2019s lots of opportunities. I want to continue playing volleyball and having such a high-level program in the city with coaches and players that I\u2019m very close to. It\u2019s definitely an asset.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hill joined UTEP\u2019s indoor volleyball team in 2022 and was among the first recruited for the university\u2019s new beach volleyball program launched by volleyball Head Coach Ben Wallis in 2023.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI had never really played beach volleyball before, but I love volleyball and was willing to try it. We only had two people who had played beach volleyball before, and everybody else was more than willing to try. We had a pretty fun year,\u201d Hill said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Volleyball, has influenced her far beyond the court, teaching her the importance of adaptability, teamwork and resilience.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI really love volleyball, and I\u2019m very competitive. Being successful is important to me,\u201d Hill said. \u201cI always strive to be great, and I\u2019m very adaptable because of the tenacity that beach volleyball taught me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

What Hill says she\u2019ll miss most isn\u2019t just playing; it\u2019s her team.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to push nine to 11 other people to be successful is so much fun. When I\u2019m down, someone can lift me up, and when they\u2019re down, I lift them up. Playing post grad is never like that,\u2019\u201d Hill said. \u201cSo, I\u2019ll definitely miss the team aspect and compete with somebody else.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, Hill doesn\u2019t plan on fully cutting ties. She hopes to continue playing in Association of Volleyball Professionals tournaments and is considering becoming a graduate assistant for the UTEP volleyball program, possibly stepping into coaching one day like her father.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to be a coach. My dad\u2019s a volleyball coach, and I coached with him for about two years. I think that I\u2019ve learned so much, and it\u2019s a lot of fun to share that with young people,\u201d Hill said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alongside volleyball, Hill is passionate about engineering, particularly additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence (AI) and mechanics.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA year ago, if you would have asked me, I would have said that I wanted to do just project-based design. But now I have gone into more coding and AI, and I am liking that a lot, especially with how much it\u2019s growing,\u201d Hill said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As an El Paso native, Hill recognizes the pressure many student athletes feel to leave especially those hoping to go professional.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have any really professional teams here, and it\u2019s hard to get noticed,\u201d Hill said. \u201cBut I think that there\u2019s more and more opportunities every single day. A lot of high school girls that I know in volleyball are getting way more offers than people in my class ever did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Hill believes that El Paso can be overlooked when it comes to the opportunities and the community that the Sun City offers.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are very comfortable with El Paso, and they start to ignore its hidden gems. It\u2019s genuinely such a safe city, and the people here are so accepting and so welcoming. It\u2019s almost like a large city, but it\u2019s very tight knit, and people are just very close,\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n

As she prepares to graduate, Hill hopes other student athletes will take the time to seriously consider all their options, including staying in El Paso.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou definitely have to weigh your options,\u201d Hill said. I think if you\u2019re from the city or from the state in general, it is a good option. This city is really a hidden gem. Think about what\u2019s going to benefit you in one place versus another, your aspirations and what you\u2019re looking for. All those will help you to dictate where you belong ultimately.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Hill, the decision has already been made. She began her college journey in El Paso, and now she\u2019s choosing to begin her future here, too.<\/p>\n

Jewel Ocampo is a Staff Reporter and may be reached at\u202f[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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