Kate Leone | Student

Eight Minutes a Day

Since May 2024, Kate Leone ’27 has maintained a habit of running at least one mile every day. As a busy student-athlete and an active member of DePauw’s campus community, it hasn’t always been easy for her to find the time – or the motivation – to get it done. But for more than two years and counting, Leone has never missed a day.

“It’s just a part of my routine now,” she says. “There have been days that felt like the longest day in my life, and I haven’t wanted to do it. But I’ve never felt worse after a run. Maybe it’s only eight minutes, but during those eight minutes I’m doing something that someone else would have decided was too hard. I’ve accomplished something.”

For Leone, this daily determination is a reflection of the attitude she carries into every aspect of her life. No matter what task she finds in front of her, she embodies the motto that has inspired Tigers for generations: DePauw Never Quits. “I know I’m going to finish everything I do, no matter what,” she says.

In her daily life, this mindset has driven Leone toward a well-rounded educational experience that includes a major in kinesiology, a minor in psychology and a student assistant role supporting DePauw’s athletic communications. Leone is also a leader among her peers, serving in prominent positions with the WGRE radio station; her sorority, Delta Gamma; and the National Panhellenic Conference. On top of it all, Leone excels as a collegiate athlete and has earned a role as a captain of the women’s lacrosse team.

“Everybody on our team is involved in multiple things,” she says. “That’s the DePauw way. It’s a community of driven people who want to be involved, want to make an impact and want to make things better.”

Yet Leone has found that, just like her running streak, this level of involvement takes daily commitment and follow-through. Whether through a late-night study session after an exhausting practice or a spring break road game while all her friends are vacationing in Florida, she’s learned that no goal worth chasing ever comes easily.

“You have to sacrifice some things as a student-athlete,” says Leone. “You may have friends who get opportunities you don’t, and it can be upsetting. You’re only in college once, and sometimes it might be nice to have some of those experiences. But I love that I get to be a part of something that’s bigger than myself.”

Hometown: Reading, Mass.
Major: Kinesiology
Minor: Psychology 
Activities: Women's lacrosse team, WGRE (station manager), Delta Gamma (VP finance), NPHC (VP academic affairs), athletics communications student assistant