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For music education major Makayla Quinn ’26, April 13 was not a normal night at work at Amalie Arena, where she is a production assistant on the Lightning Vision Team.

That night, Quinn was asked to fill in for the in-house singer and perform the national anthem before the game.

Lucky for her, her family was in town from Long Island to see her perform in a show at UTampa. They were attending the Lightning game, too.

“I was like, ‘You know what, it’s a good opportunity. It’s something that’ll be good for me and nice for my family,’” she said. “I definitely was nervous. I was also keeping it a secret from my mom, so that was even harder, because I couldn’t really talk it out.”

Her family didn’t know she would be singing until she stepped out on the ice that night, though they had suspicions, knowing the in-house singer was out of town.

Quinn's mother even asked her boss about it, when she saw him at the arena.��“She was like, ‘So who’s singing tonight? Because I heard Sonia is not here.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, some rookie’s doing it,’ and he played it off really well,” Quinn said.

Following her performance, she said, her friends told her it was the most confident they had ever heard her sing.

“My heart was kind of pounding, but other than that, I felt very confident and calm,” she said. “Maybe my brain was like, ‘you’re at work, like, you’re working.’”

Quinn arrived at the arena at 2 p.m. Puck drop was at 6 p.m., and she had one rehearsal in between, before going on around 6:10 p.m.

“And then as soon as I got off the ice, I put my sneakers back on and went upstairs and started working again,” she said.

“So I think I had so much on my mind already that I wasn't thinking about being nervous.”

Quinn’s voice teacher at UTampa, Hein Jung, who has taught her since her first year at UTampa, said Quinn is one of the top exemplary Music Education in Voice students and has been awarded the Junior Outstanding Music Student award this year.

“She showed me the video and it was an outstanding performance,” Jung said.

“She has worked hard during her education at UTampa — always eager to learn, be challenged and appreciative of her growth even though it takes hard work from her to reach that far.”

Quinn said she would love to be able to sing the national anthem before a game again, however, the decision is not up to her. Though she said she remains close with the team who can make it happen.

“Tampa, in general, gives us a lot of opportunities. I think this is one of them, and it’s a cool way for me as a non-sports major. I have a job in sports, and I'm still able to have my passion with me,” Quinn said.

“I've been able to have the arts and sports, which are both two passions of mine, which is cool. And if I were able to continue to sing once in a while for them, it’d be awesome, and I’d be very grateful for that opportunity. But we’ll see. We’ll see what happens.”