Stephen M. Hogue, Jr. '16

was a volunteer at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina. Out of the 18,000 volunteers, he was one of only 2,000 non-Italian people selected. When he applied he only had a 13% chance of being chosen. His interest in the Olympics was sparked when he attended a figure skating event with his grandmother during the 2002 Salt Lake City games. He was stationed in the figure skating arena, where he watched Team USA skate to gold and was present for the medal ceremony. He was also on duty during many of the short track speed skating events. Along with volunteering, he was able to attend the Opening Ceremonies and built up an impressive pin collection. At any Olympic games, pins are like currency. Hogue had his own pins made so he would have something to trade. He came away with hundreds of pins from all different countries, sponsors and individual athletes.