Miranda Dougherty: Dreams+Work=Success

By Tom Steele
Director, Academic Outreach and Athletic Initiatives

Miranda Dougherty’s dog, Oliver, is a mutt who does not have a pedigree. However, Dougherty, a junior defender on the Ferrum College women’s soccer team, has a strong soccer pedigree. Dougherty’s father, Scott, played soccer for Villanova, and with her dad as coach, Dougherty began her soccer career at the age of five.

Dougherty, who grew up in Waretown, NJ credits her parents with influencing her success on the field and in the classroom. Her dad was her “field coach” and her mom, Kristy, was the “academic coach.” Her parents’ support drives Dougherty to be the best at everything she attemps. As a double-major in Criminal Justice and Psychology, with a 3.97 grade point average, Dougherty’s “dream career” is with the FBI. Recently, she has taken steps to make her dream a reality by contacting FBI staff members and aligning herself to be considered for an internship following graduation.

Dougherty discovered Ferrum College after being contacted by then-head coach James Lofton. The atmosphere surrounding the College appealed to Dougherty, as well as the sense of “family” within the soccer team. All was off to great start until a torn ACL shortened Dougherty’s freshman season.

When asked to name her most memorable experience at Ferrum, Dougherty says it is her comeback to soccer after two surgeries to correct the torn ACL. “Overcoming the injury setback required me to remain positive, and move beyond the feeling that my soccer career was over. That experience helped me develop a deeper level of mental toughness,” said Dougherty, who, with the support of her teammates and parents, returned to the field in a win over Emory & Henry.

Dougherty’s sports idol is Mia Hamm, an iconic figure in women’s soccer. In the 1990s, Hamm was known as the best in the sport. Like Hamm, Dougherty wants to be the best at everything she does. Her determination to overcome setbacks to succeed on the field and in the classroom is taking this Ferrum College athlete towards realizing her goals in soccer and in her career.

Ferrum College Sweethearts Celebrate 27th Valentine’s Day Together

Aaron Conover ’93 and Hillary Hardison ’94 celebrated their 25^th wedding anniversary this past September. These sweethearts met at Ferrum College in 1991 when Hardison visited Conover’s dorm room to watch Fantasia with mutual friends. Hardison was hooked when Conover answered the door wearing an apron and carrying a bottle of 409 cleaner; “I knew she was coming over, so I was cleaning,” he explains. “Four guys living together are pretty gross.”

The couple spent their days at Ferrum College hiking, caving, and creating art together. Conover graduated a year prior to Hardison and followed his outdoor recreation career to Oregon. She finished her degree in philosophy with a minor in art in May 1994 and the couple was married in September 1994. They spent their honeymoon traveling by moving van from Virginia to Oregon so Hardison could join her new husband out west. 

The couple continued to follow their dreams which eventually lead them back to Virginia. Conover is now employed by Ferrum College as the director of Ferrum Outdoors and adjunct instructor in health and human performance. He also co-owns Down River Outfitters, which offers scenic river tours on the Jackson River, James River, New River, and Staunton River. Hardison teaches gifted art classes through Roanoke County Schools and Aurora Artisans & Frameshop, and operates her own art business, Hardison Art, LLC.

Their story hasn’t always been unabashed wedded bliss. In February 2016, Hardison was diagnosed with ovarian and uterine cancer and underwent extensive surgery with a long recovery. Shortly after, her mother passed away and she was laid off from the job she held at the time. Through those difficult times, Conover remained her rock and once healing began, they decided together that it was time to start living life to the fullest. It was then that the pair really honed in on their entrepreneurial adventures with Down River Outfitters and Hardison Art LLC. “We let each other pursue our passions and we support the other,” Conover explains. 

What word would the couple use to describe their 25 years together? “Adventure,” quips Hardison. “That word dominates our life. I wanted adventure in my life. I knew with Aaron, it would never be boring.”

“Or lucrative,” Conover says, with a grin.

Happy Valentine’s Day to these Ferrum College sweethearts.

Learn more about Down River Outfitters here: http://www.driftboatflyfishing.com/ and Hardison Art, LLC here: www.hardisonartllc.com.