Most 11-year-olds might not have ever even heard of optical engineering, but at that age Macy Johnson was already laser-focused on the field and a degree from Rose-Hulman. Now, the 2025 graduate from Montezuma, Indiana, has achieved her lifelong goal.

"I've reflected on it a lot the past several weeks because it's all coming to an end," Johnson said. "Even though it was something I always wanted, Rose presented a lot of surprises in the best way possible. I never thought I’d have had the opportunities that I’ve had."

Those opportunities began even before her college enrollment. In middle school, Johnson participated in the ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp, hosted on Rose-Hulman's campus. Johnson spent two weeks in the Baur-Sames-Bogart (BSB) residence hall, learning from her Rose student counselors, including now-alumna Nicole Coney Gayotin, who was majoring in optical engineering. 

"The more I look back on it, the more I realize how much of a pivotal moment that was for me," Johnson said, explaining that she simply fell in love with all that Rose had to offer.

Given how much Rose-Hulman captivated her from the first encounter, it was only fitting, then, that Johnson would become a cheerleader for Rose-Hulman – in more ways than one.

A nearly lifelong cheerleader, Johnson has been a member of the varsity cheer team for four years and a captain for two who was always proud to wear the Rose-Hulman logo across her uniform – and, in fact, may have skipped a few events during New Student Orientation to practice the school song before tryouts. Her first game was a mere two days after class started. 

"I remember my family came for my first game and it rained, but I didn't care at all because I was so excited to be at a Rose game," Johnson smiled. "Being able to represent Rose-Hulman was something I always knew I wanted to do." 

After the buzzer sounded, Johnson also became a cheerleader for Rose-Hulman off the basketball court and the football field. In her roles as an admissions tour guide, an orientation leader, and a member of the Rose-Hulman student social media team, Johnson has often been one of the first people new students interact with at Rose-Hulman.

"I've been an advocate for bringing students to campus," she said. "It's really cool to move in families whose tour I gave the year before. I've really appreciated being a familiar face for students and their families."

Her face is indeed familiar to students. She may cheer from the sidelines at sporting events, but she's center stage in the action on campus – including in her roles in Rose Drama Club performances.

For three years, she has helped plan one of Rose-Hulman's most beloved traditions, the Greatest Floor competition between residence halls, organizing campus-wide community service as the Service Event Coordinator.

She encourages others to let their enthusiasm for Rose-Hulman burst forth as part of Student Activities Board (SAB), where she served two terms as the HERD Committee Chair, motivating students to cheer on their peers at all sporting events. She also served as the SAB president, where she helped to build a sense of community through engaging campus events. 

"The community is very supportive in general, so it was a pretty natural fit for me to be able to be supportive of my friends and other students," Johnson said. "In that sense, I've become other people's cheerleaders as well.” 

She also found a community of her own through both her sorority, Chi Omega, and the Lilly Scholars Network (LSN) as a recipient of the Lilly Endowment Scholarship. Both experiences pushed her to grow as a leader as she represented her peers, and, combined with her other roles, helped her find her leadership style.

“Leadership has not been a one-size-fits-all approach,” Johnson said. “Within Greek life, it’s fulfilling the role in front of me, but I’ve found ways to maximize and grow the chapter. With SAB and LSN, there are fewer clear-cut rules, so I’ve been able to find creative solutions and build something that will last after I’m gone.”

Johnson experimented with her passions through her coursework as well, discovering a love for classes in her psychology minor. 

"I just really like the Humanities, Social Sciences & the Arts (HSSA) classes," she said. "I'm much more of a balanced person between HSSA and STEM. I eventually want to go into management, and I'm sure there are many things that I pick up through my HSSA courses that are going to be useful."

With graduation behind her, Johnson's story has come full-circle, and others have cheered for her.  In May, Coney Gayotin came to campus for a Physics, Optical Engineering, and NanoEngineering (PHON) Advisory Board meeting, and Johnson was able to thank her for her impact on her life. Johnson, too, has inspired other students to follow in their optical engineering footsteps in her two years as counselor and head counselor during the Project SELECT Summer camp. 

Though her time wearing the Rose-Hulman cheer uniform may have officially drawn to a close, Johnson believes she has more to give – both to the sport and to Rose-Hulman. She hopes to someday become a cheer coach, inspired by the leadership she learned and felt while in college. 

"Rose-Hulman really paved the way for me to grow as a person enough for me to want to share what I've learned with other people," she said. 

She is slowly adjusting to the idea of "life after Rose" and looking forward to her next chapter. After an internship last summer, Johnson accepted a full-time role in Electro-Optics at Raytheon Missiles and Defense in Tucson, Arizona. The inner 11-year-old smiling from the top bunk in BSB will finally achieve her dream of working with lasers as an optical engineer, and Rose-Hulman will continue to beam through everything that the now-grown Johnson sets her sights to achieve.