“Everyone is a leader,” said Anna Baxter ’25 when I asked her about her experience being a captain of Amherst College’s women’s hockey team, which advanced to the NCAA Division III national championship this year. “Everyone has something to say. Everyone leads by action.”

Perhaps Baxter herself is the best demonstration of leading by action. Hockey star, role model in the classroom, and a chemistry thesis student soon to pursue a career in dentistry, Baxter has managed to act as a leader both on and off the ice.

Born to Play

Baxter has been playing hockey for most of her life. Growing up in Joliet, Illinois, Baxter started with hockey at only eight years old, playing for the Chicago Hawks boys program. She then transitioned to Tier 1 hockey — the highest level of youth hockey — at age 12, playing for Chicago Mission.

Baxter continued with hockey into her teenage years. Since her high school did not have a team, she played for a club team, which had a season lasting from August until May. Most of her middle and high school years were devoted to hockey, but she enjoyed it greatly.

Baxter’s talent was recognized by Jeff Matthews, the head coach of Amherst’s hockey team, when Baxter played for her club team at nationals in Marlborough, Massachusetts, her freshman year of high school. Baxter admitted that she had never heard of Amherst College — or any small liberal arts school from the New England area — prior to this moment. “I’m from Illinois, and most people from my school, when they go to college, it’s somewhere in the Midwest,” Baxter said.

Nonetheless, Baxter was recruited and admitted to Amherst for hockey. While she had several other options available, Baxter said that the college felt right for her.

Aye Aye, Captain

Baxter was selected as captain of the Amherst women’s hockey team through a team vote. Although the title is in itself an honor, it was the way Baxter’s teammates spoke of her character that proved her abilities as a leader.

Co-captain Emily Hohmann ’26 described her experience working and playing with Baxter as a pleasure. “[She] knows exactly what to say in every moment. When we were kind of down in the dumps in certain games, she knew exactly how to light a fire [in us],” Hohmann said.

Hohmann felt that she was able to work with Baxter as both a mentor and a co-leader. She described her admiration for Baxter’s approach to being captain and how she has always provided the team with words of encouragement.

“Anna Baxter is one of the best role models and leaders that I’ve ever encountered,” she said. “[She] just knew all the right words, and when we needed a pat on the shoulder, she was there to give one.”

To her teammate Kelsey Stewart ’25, Baxter is “definitely a natural-born leader.” Stewart was particularly inspired by Baxter’s ability to make time for both academics and athletics while succeeding at both. She also shared that she greatly enjoyed getting to know Baxter personally: “She’s just one of the most genuine [and] funny people I know. There’s never a dull moment with her.”

Baxter herself described her experience as captain with humility. “[It was] a responsibility that I was very grateful for,” she said. “I think it was so easy because everyone that Jeff — my coach — recruits is a leader in their own way.”

Surrounded by Loved Ones

Anna described her family as something central to her life. Baxter’s two siblings are volleyball players, with one sister being a recent graduate from Clarkson University and the other being a current student there. Her father is a firefighter, and her mother is a teacher. Even if she can’t spend as much time with her family anymore, she still cherishes them. Not only is she close with her immediate family, but she also has a strong relationship with her extended relatives. Baxter’s desire to have a career centered around long-term relationships stems from the bonds she has with family members.

She attributed her early interest in STEM to her mother’s job as an A.P. Biology teacher. “If we were to do a fun activity when we were little, it was like making slime or [using] baking soda and vinegar … you know, that kind of stuff,” she said, laughing.

While STEM was never something Baxter was forced into, her family always encouraged her to explore these fields.

Becoming the Woman in STEM

Despite being a chemistry major, Baxter actually began her college experience disliking the subject. She knew that she would go into a STEM field, but was surprised that she eventually chose chemistry because she “absolutely hated it” growing up.

“I think I hated it in high school because when I took it, it was during Covid, and I [thought], ‘This does not make any sense,’” she said.

In addition, Baxter did not feel as prepared for Amherst as many of her peers were. Coming from a Title I public high school, she described Amherst as an academic challenge: a “competitive, high caliber” school she had to adjust to. She recalled that hockey had made this adjustment a lot easier, because she had “a community to rely on.”

Baxter only enrolled in her first chemistry course because of a professor’s recommendation. She eventually discovered a love for the subject due to the excellent professors she encountered, and shortly after, she declared it her major. 

Assistant Professor of Chemistry Christopher Durr shared his experience working with Baxter: “I really got to know Anna when she took ‘Inorganic Chemistry’ [with] me. Anna’s the best … She just makes every class feel more fun and more interesting because she always comes prepared. She’s always ready to go.”

Durr also spoke highly of Anna’s work ethic and personable qualities. “Whatever team I put her in [had] a good time,” he said.

Durr recognized that Baxter is a phenomenal athlete in addition to an excellent student. “I’m the [Interim] Faculty Athletic Representative for the college, and so I would always go and see her and the team play,” he said. “It’s cool to get to see your student … crush it in the classroom and then also do the same athletically.”

Baxter also began to feel more certain of her academic ability through the support of her community. She shared that her interest for research has developed alongside her self-confidence. “When I first came in, the idea of writing a thesis … was like, ‘Absolutely not,’” she said. Now, Baxter has completed a thesis in the chemistry department titled “Controlled Synthesis of Lamellar Polymer Brush Structures,” where she explored a new strategy to grow organic polymer bristles from inorganic clay sheets a few nanometers thick. The final product, called a polymer-clay nanocomposite, is expected to have enhanced mechanical and thermal properties that can be applied in the biomedical, aeronautical, and green packaging industries.

Baxter’s thesis supervisor, Professor of Chemistry Sandra Burkett, described Baxter’s work ethic as a “no nonsense, get stuff done” attitude. “She’s just so organized,” Burkett said. She explained how impressive it was for Baxter to be able to tackle an experimental thesis while studying for her dental exam. “It’s remarkable what she’s managed to juggle in her time, and [she’s] just so positive about everything.”

Hohmann also witnessed Baxter’s drive to succeed. “She’s very determined,” she said. “Whatever she sets her mind on, she’ll get there no matter what, which is cool to watch.”

Durr added that Baxter went to both NCAA and NESCAC hockey national championships while still managing to stay on top of her coursework and completing a thesis. “To be able to do everything that she does and [to] do it at a really high level is really impressive … I don’t know how she did it,” he said.

Smile Big For the Dentist!

When asked how she chose to be pre-dental, Baxter said that she actually didn’t know what she wanted to do the entirety of her freshman year. In December of her sophomore year, she confided this to her dentist, who then invited her to shadow him. This experience made her “fall in love” with dentistry.

Baxter said that she wanted to be in a field where long-term relationships, like the ones she has formed with her family and community, are possible. “With dentistry, you see [the same] people for like 20 years. You know these people forever, and I like that form of community,” she said.

Baxter’s hockey teammates feel very confident in her future career as a dentist. “I plan on flying out to wherever she has her practice and going [to] her for all of my dental work,” Stewart said.

“It’s just funny because anytime anyone has anything going on with their mouth, it’ll be like, ‘Bax, what’s going on?’” Hohmann said. “And she knows exactly what to say [and] what to do.”

Baxter plans on applying to dental school this year for matriculation in 2026. She hopes to use a gap year at home to deepen her understanding of dentistry by working as an assistant.

Durr believes that Baxter is someone other students should look up to. “I think Anna is a really great example of a student who kind of does a little bit of everything and does it with a smile on her face and just makes everybody’s day that much better,” he said.