The feeling of home is how Skylar Molnar ’25 felt the first time she stepped foot on the Wilson campus. She nearly committed to a school in Boston before receiving an email from Wilson’s women’s soccer coach, Terry Harris. That email made her rethink her decision. After a campus visit, she said, “It was as if nothing was missing. Everything was just perfect, and I knew this was the place for me.”
She first looked at Wilson because she had a connection to Juliann Winkler ’22. They both graduated from the same high school and Molnar knew Winkler was attending Wilson. Molnar also knew she wanted to study Health and Physical Education (PE) and play Division III soccer. Most of the Division III schools she looked at focused on exercise science or athletic training, but Wilson was one of the few that offered Health and PE. To learn more about their soccer programs, Molnar emailed several coaches, Wilson’s among them, and awaited responses. That is when Coach Terry stepped in, and Molnar found herself at Wilson in fall 2021, later declaring a double major in Health and Physical Education (K-12) and Exercise Science with a minor in Athletic Coaching.
At Wilson, Molnar said she found comfort in knowing every person on campus, whether they were friends or acquaintances. She said, “You really mean something to each and every person here, whether that is students, faculty, or staff.” These bonds are the ones she feels illustrate the lasting friendships at Wilson. “I honestly don’t know where I would be or what I’d do without the friends I’ve made,” she explained. “I feel like I genuinely created a second family here, especially playing soccer.”
Throughout her four years at Wilson, Molnar actively participated in many organizations while helping to foster a sense of community across campus. Dean of Students Katie Kough said, “Skylar assumed progressively responsible leadership roles eventually serving as a WCGA officer, CAB president, VP of the Class of 2025, orientation leader, president of the line dancing club (a group she co-created), and president of the Exercise Science Club. She conducted herself in a way that younger students are now striving to emulate.”
Molnar explained her involvement this way, “I think the best thing Wilson gave me was the ability to find myself and shine bright while I was here. I was able to get involved in so many things and enjoy each one of them. From starting new clubs to joining different organizations, I was always able to find myself.”
At the Academic Awards in May 2025, Molnar received The Catherine Herr Langdon Award presented to a senior who has demonstrated academic excellence and who has fully, unselfishly and willingly given comfort, compassion, encouragement, guidance, help, and understanding to fellow students during the year. Kough said, “Skylar is a hard worker and is able to see the bigger picture of student leadership. She cares about what happens to the clubs/organizations after she graduates. She was always thinking about who could step into the leadership roles after she left. It may sound a little corny, but I really do believe that she didn’t just walk the path of leadership at Wilson. She lit it for others as well.”
Even while at Wilson, Molnar also maintained strong connections in her home community. During the summer of 2024, she completed an internship at Amica Athletics near her hometown of Shohola, Pa. There, she provided personal and group training and taught a variety of ages, from elementary school children to adults, tailoring their workouts to specific sports.
She spent the last semester of college working as a student teacher at the primary and high schools in Greencastle-Antrim School District, where she said she learned so much from other teachers, her supervisor, colleagues, and students. “It helped me confirm that this is what I want to do with my life,” she said.
Molnar will spend her summer preparing to start a position at the elementary school she attended, Shohola Elementary School. She said, “I am excited to go back home and start a new chapter at a school I already know.”
