Hailey Swirbul, B.S. '21 has done everything from designing bridges to competing in the Olympics, all while completing her civil engineering degree from UAA. Despite her busy schedule, she graduated with honors and is now thinking about returning to UAA for more classes.

A Colorado native, Swirbul didn't expect to find herself skiing competitively in Alaska. She's been winning cross country races since she was ten years old and she knew she wanted to continue ski racing in college, but it wasn't until a coach from UAA reached out to her that she considered the Last Frontier. She visited Anchorage in November, met her future teammates and saw a beautiful mountain sunset. "I felt called to come here. I think my heart led me to Alaska."

Once at UAA, Swirbul leapt into her engineering courses. She represented the Seawolves twice in the iconic Steel Bridge competition as part of the design team, utilizing the structural focus of her degree and learning lots in the process. She was also an assistant in the structural engineering lab under Scott Hamel, Ph.D., which was a very positive experience.

Being part of the UAA ski team gave her a built-in family. Between traveling often for competitions, training as a group and cooking meals together, her teammates became lifelong friends. When asked about what kind of lessons she learned at UAA, she emphasizes the importance of having a network that helps you succeed. "If you want to be great at something, you have to surround yourself with people who will push you to be great."

Swibul first represented the United States in the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, then took a two-year hiatus from skiing to recover from the pressures of elite competition. In 2025, she resumed training at Alaska Pacific University and decided to return to competition, earning her place on the U.S. Olympic team for the 2026 Winter Games in Italy. She says the Milan Cortina Games were a much different experience than the Beijing Games, thanks in part to some of her loved ones traveling from Alaska to Italy and surprising her. She had no idea they would be there, and she says it made such a difference to have her loved ones cheering her on in the races.

Swirbul praises UAA for the way they encourage the success of high-performing student-athletes. "It's a balancing act for sure, and I think UAA is set up so well to make that balancing act possible. You just have to find your mentors and your role models, whether that's student peers or teammates or faculty members. These are the people to have in your corner who can help guide you and find a path."

For future classes, she's considering the nursing or physical assistant track that UAA offers, explaining that a lot of her engineering skill set is transferable to the medical field. She's excited to return to classes. "Alaska's community feels different from anywhere else, and UAA is such a central part of that."