DUBOIS — Maya Angelou once said that people will forget what you said and forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.
If that is the measure by which we judge how a person lives, it would seem that Northeast Dubois’ Clare Mangin has made quite an impact for someone who has not even seen two decades go by quite yet. To hear her Jeeps teammates and coach talk about her, one could get the sense she is the emotional anchor of the team.
“The first thing I noticed about Clare, and this is true to this day, is she is a winner on and off the court,” Jeeps head coach Andy Chinn said of the senior. “She can lead the team on and off the court. She kind of holds us together, the glue that keeps us together.”
“If I wasn’t friends with Clare Mangin I wouldn’t have that (person) who’s fun to be around,” said senior guard Adi Denu. “She’s always there for me. Anything I need, I’ll always have her there.”
Mangin is a positive, bubbly spirit who always seems to have a smile on her face, except for when the referee’s whistle rings out to signal it’s time to play ball. Then, she locks in to play tight, tenacious defense or serve as that third scoring option on the floor.
“Coming out of eighth grade I was more of a defensive threat than anything,” said Mangin “This year I want the ball more. On offense I’m contributing a lot more than I have been. I think that comes with maturity and my skills improving.”
Mangin’s maturation in basketball was a growing process. She said that going into high school she did not feel comfortable on the offensive end of the court. She jokes about how flat her shot used to be, and how she used to rush to get the ball out of her hands because she was so nervous to handle it.
But Mangin didn’t let the initial misfires deter her from getting better. She was simply determined to put her nose to the grindstone and worked on improving her on-court performance, just like she does everything else in her life.
“She gives everything she has in everything she does, she’s very passionate,” Chinn said. “She’s really gotten a lot better throughout these four years. She’s been putting in extra time and doing everything she can to help us win the sectional. And her skills have followed suit.”
That drive for excellence does not just stop on the court. Mangin is flirting with the title of class valedictorian, saying she has never gotten lower than an A- on an assignment, while also staying active through community service. It’s not unusual to hear about Mangin visiting nursing homes or helping deliver firewood to the older residents of Dubois.
What is it that motivates Mangin to be her optimal, realized self in all facets of her life? First and foremost is her faith. She believes that her spiritual tradition gives her a necessary level of humility and grounding, which allows her to always strive for better results.
“I’m really into my Catholic faith,” she said. “My main goal is to show the talents that God gave me. Something that I’ve figured out is that you can’t really play for yourself. Relying on my faith in sports has really helped me contribute, and I think I can apply that to any part of my life.”
Her second motivation is humility. That humble spirit helps her when it comes to fulfilling some of the teaching duties that go along with being a senior captain on the basketball team.
She is always encouraging the younger players on the court, and willing to put in the extra work to help develop them, because she remembers what it was like to be that younger player with more enthusiasm than skill.
“She is especially good at positive reinforcement,” said senior forward Alex Dodson. “She’s very relatable. She is able to say, ‘We understand what you’re going through because we went through it too, now this is how you fix this.’”
Perhaps this is a preview of the future for Mangin, who wants to major in English, her favorite subject, in college and go on to become a teacher. It seems an appropriate fit for someone who was voted the class bookworm.
The final motivation seals it all together: courage. One of Mangin’s favorite books is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. In it, there is a passage that reads: “I remembered that the real world was wide, and that a varied field of hopes and fears, of sensations and excitements, awaited those who had the courage to go forth into its expanse, to seek real knowledge of life amidst its perils.”
Mangin has taken these words to heart and goes forward fearlessly on the court as she does in the rest of her life. She is not afraid of the bumps and bruises that go along with life’s journey. She simply sees them as steps toward progress.
“If you just put yourself out there, even if it’s a scary or difficult situation, you can prosper from it,” she said. “Even if you fail, at least you learned something. That’s how you grow.”
Mangin has grown with her teammates, and her greater community, during her time in Dubois. Those around her are confident she’ll be successful in whatever endeavor she chooses. But it will be bittersweet for some to watch her go on to the next part of her life after graduation.
“It will be a lot different without her on the sidelines next year,” Chinn said. “To be honest, I’m not looking forward to it because of the relationship we’ve built. But upon graduation it will be really good to see her in a different light and become friends.”
Source: https://duboiscountyherald.com/b/faith-humility-guide-mangin-on-lifes-journey