Days into Hendricks’ first year at Harvard, the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States changed everything.

Even as the country launched into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Hendricks says her dedication to the Navy only deepened.

“September 11 reminded us that there’s a reason for doing this, a real-life, current connection. And it reminded people that the military is important,” she says.

As if squash and ROTC weren’t draining enough, Hendricks also teaches a spinning class at the Beacon Hill Athletic Club in Boston.

“She definitely has more energy than anyone I’ve ever known,” says her friend Carrie S. Baizer ’05. “To this day I still find it shocking and amazing, because she does so many other things…she has the ability to just tackle anything.”

And when it comes to socializing, she’s often cited as a motivator. Nellwyn A. Thomas ’05 says that for Senior Week, Hendricks founded a tongue-in-cheek “sorority” called Kappa Kappa Steffers, featuring a southern belle ball in her common room. It was only one in a string of whimsical ideas.

“The day I finished all my papers, Stephanie and I went to get pedicures and she snuck in a bottle of champagne,” recalls Thomas. “There we were, sitting in the pedicure chairs, drinking champagne from cups in a brown paper bag.”

The party girl credentials aren’t just compatible with Hendricks’ fierce work ethic—they’re more like an extension of it.

While many of her friends were putting in hours at investment banks and consulting firms last summer, Hendricks was flying jets in Jacksonville, Fla. She has since moved from the aviation track to a four-year post-college commitment to Naval intelligence.

She says she’s mentally prepared for the prospect of dying in combat. “Like my father says, everyone’s going to die. You can’t live your life in fear, afraid to die—you have to actually go out and live life,” she says. “I’ve taken that to heart. It’s true. That’s how terrorists win: they instill fear in people. So if you’re not afraid, they’re not winning.”

—Staff writer Irin Carmon can be reached at carmon@fas.harvard.edu.