Makin’ Time; Cameron Makin Made Time for Great College Experience

The Penn State Behrend water polo program attracts players from all over the country. Being a member of this sport means lots of travel in order to play games. The sport is predominantly popular in California, but some small regions of the United States also enjoy and play this sport. It’s truly a full body workout that requires great strategy, teamwork, and execution. For Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania resident Cameron Makin, the sport of water polo was not something he imagined himself playing at a young age.

The North Allegheny High School graduate played soccer growing up and admitted that this sport was not something he was particular great at. His water polo career began when his mother Susan brought home a flyer for a water polo camp at a local pool. His mom thought it would be a good way to try a new sport, so Makin decided to give it a try. After this camp, Cameron was hooked on the sport. His passion and knowledge for the sport has grown, and he decided to spend all of his time playing this sport.

Luckily for Makin, North Allegheny had one of the few high school water polo programs in the state of Pennsylvania. In addition, there was a well established club team in his area which allowed him to play the sport year round. It was through this club that Cameron met two of his biggest mentors in the sport Jim Staresinic and Nikola Malezanov. Staresinic is the father of former UCLA water polo player Max Staresinic, and it was Jim who was one of the most supportive parents to Makin and his abilities as a polo player. “Jim was someone who motivated me to be better and helped develop my skill set as a player.” Makin explained. As for Malezanov, he is the current Washington and Jefferson Presidents water polo coach and the former head coach at North Allegheny.

“Coach Malezanov’s knowledge of the sport is truly fantastic. He brought a great seriousness to our team which was important to our success. He also has so many connections in the sport which allowed for former olympic athletes to come talk to the team and help improve the team’s skills. Another advantage he brought us was he helped players prepare for combines and club season which set our players apart and allowed for some of us to play in college. I owe a lot of my success to him.” While these coaches were key to his success in the sport, Makin did not hesitate to talk about the support he had from his parents (Ali and Susan Makin) and the rest of his family through the years.

The Makin’s traveled around the east coast in the club water polo season to allow Cameron to compete in some of the best club water polo tournaments in the country. This competition allowed him to raise his game and prepare for the college game. When learning more about the opportunity to play college water polo while also studying computer engineering, Makin knew Penn State Behrend was the place for him.

When talking about why computer engineering was for him, Cameron said “I was always interested in taking things apart and trying to reassemble them. I took apart a lot of different gadgets and device, and early on when I did this, I did not know how to put them back together which made my parents upset. They told me I better figure it out, and eventually I began to understand more about technology. It is truly the right field for me.” In addition to his degree in computer engineering, Makin has also picked up a minor in Management Information Systems to differentiate his already great skill set. Makin’s education will not stop here as he plans to head to graduate school this fall before studying for his PhD in the near future.

It was through Makin’s internships that he learned furthering his education was the best decision for him. After an internship at Erie Insurance, Cameron admitted that he was looking to do more research in the computer engineering realm. This led to him searching for an internship in research, and eventually becoming a summer research assistant intern at Virginia Tech University. After a summer full of projects and great experience, he made up his mind that higher ed was still what he wanted for himself after finishing his undergraduate degree this May. Electrical engineering is the field he will studying which he explained was directly related to computer engineering.

Reflecting back on his career in water polo, Makin has a lot of accomplishments and feats to be proud of. He was a part of a team that helped Penn State Behrend water polo transition to the MPSF (Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) in which Behrend would play Division I water polo powerhouses UCLA, Cal, Stanford, and USC. It was a way for the Lions to play against olympians and the best water polo competition in the country. The perks of playing in this conference include a trip to California every season as well as a chance to hang out and meet some of superstar water polo players and coaches the sport has to offer. Makin explained this experience as a truly once in a lifetime chance, and he is glad he helped the team make this happen.

In addition to this great transition to the MPSF, Makin also contributed 51 career goals and captained the team in his senior season. Being a captain of a team like this is a challenging task as there are players from all over the country who play the game with many different playing styles coming together to play the game at a high level. As if playing a college sport with a lot of traveling and studying engineering was not enough, Cameron also was a member of Triangle Fraternity, a co-founder of the floor hockey club at Behrend, and the vice president of the engineering ambassadors. There are few things Cameron Making has not done in his time at Penn State Behrend.

Though his headshots for the athletics website have changed quite a bit through the last four years, Cameron Makin surely has not. He has embraced many great opportunities through his college experience, and there is no doubt that Makin’s hard work will pay off in the near future as he transitions to a graduate school student in the coming months. Cameron Makin’s experience in water polo may have come to an end, but this will surely not be the last time people hear his name as he is destined to make a great impact in the field of engineering.