Paging Bibi Donraadt: Maryland Field Hockey Star’s Medical Dreams
Matt Gilpin, Maryland Athletics Staff Writer
9/15/2021
The typical offseason for a college student-athlete is full of training mixed with rest and recovery designed to combat the brutal grind ahead in the upcoming season.
This summer was different. Athletes were getting their bodies ready not just by training but by getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
While most Maryland student-athletes spent their summers receiving their vaccines, one also spent her time administering them.
Maryland field hockey forward Bibi Donraadt returned home to her native Netherlands, where she volunteered to work at a vaccine clinic.
“It was a very unique experience to say the least,” Donraadt said. “I really wanted to work at a hospital and I loved being able to help people especially in such a weird time like COVID. We gave out so many shots and helped so many people.”
Donraadt has a reputation amongst her teammates as having a medical mind as she’s currently majoring in psychology and general biology.
Like most Maryland athletes, Donraadt wanted an internship related to her field of study, providing her with a unique experience and training for her career.
The senior contacted Maryland Made in the spring and asked them for help in setting something up for her. What they came back with was a dream come true.
“When I first asked them for help I wasn’t really sure what they’d say or what they’d have,” Donraadt said. “I told them I wanted to work in a hospital and when they came back and said I could volunteer at a hospital in the Netherlands I was so happy. To also do it for such a pivotal time like giving out COVID vaccines made it even better.”
That’s just who Bibi is. She’s always thinking of other people. She’s really smart and more importantly she cares. She’d make an amazing doctor.Brooke DeBerdine
Maryland Made is a student-athlete development program designed to develop personal and professional relationships with companies through internships and other leadership initiatives.
Donraadt’s experience with Maryland Made is similar to that of countless Maryland student-athletes. The program has been setting up Terps with internships and opportunities for years.
Head coach Missy Meharg is not surprised Donraadt found an internship with a hospital as she’s always been a selfless person who wants to make the world a better place.
“Bibi has an amazing mind,” Meharg said. “I’m not sure I’ve ever had a more thoughtful player than her, especially when it comes to medicine. I mean, she literally wants to be a doctor. A doctor! Not many athletes are like that.”
Even Donraadt’s teammates notice how thoughtful and medically focused she is in her everyday life.
Midfielder Brooke DeBerdine has been teammates with Donraadt since 2018 and has seen the makings of the future doctor firsthand.
“That’s just who Bibi is,” DeBerdine said. “She’s always thinking of other people. She’s really smart and more importantly she cares. She’d make an amazing doctor.”
Donraadt isn’t just on the team for her academic prowess.
On top of being an All-Big Ten scholar-athlete, she was an All-Big Ten second-team honoree and was selected to the 2018 All-NCAA Tournament Team.
Her 2021 campaign has started strong as she has three goals in five games, including a standout performance against Saint Joseph’s. Donraadt saved the game with a remarkable defensive play and scored the game-winning goal on the offensive end.
Nothing on the field seems too daunting for Donraadt after seeing the hardships of a vaccine clinic up close and personal.
From vomiting children to nervous elderly, and everyone in between, Donraadt saw it all during her internship.
“The best thing I saw were these big tough guys with their arms covered in tattoos that were terrified of getting the shot,” Donraadt said. “Like, come on man it’s a shot! You’ll be fine! I had little tiny kids who were less afraid of it.”
Donraadt is a big proponent of the vaccine and is happy that the University of Maryland has required it for its faculty, staff, and student population because she has seen firsthand the terrible toll COVID-19 can take.
While at the hospital, she prepared the vaccine, meaning she was one of the people putting the serum into the syringes to administer to those who wanted them.
She was proud of how her country responded to the vaccine. The Netherlands is currently outpacing the United States in the percentage of the population with at least one dose.
Even though it’s been a tough year for everyone, Donraadt is happy to have spent a piece of it helping others, especially the people closest to her.
“It just felt right [working at the vaccine clinic],” Donraadt said. “I got to help so many different people including my parents and my boyfriend. It was just a great experience especially in such a weird time.”
Now that she’s back in the United States, Donraadt wants to use her firsthand experience to help teach not only her teammates about the efficacy of the vaccine but everyone who wants to listen.
If you’re hesitant about getting vaccinated or have questions about it, the future Dr. Donraadt has all the answers you’d need.
All photographs were used with permission of individuals in each photo.
