Rachel Linehan '15 Recruiting Profile

All through my childhood I have been taught that if my grades are not excellent, then I don't play sports. My parents taught me that education is one the most important things to have in my life. As a child also, I always strived to please not only my parents, but all of my elders as well so therefore I was an almost straight-A student throughout my school years. I work hard to keep the grades I have and aspire all the time to make them better. I am working toward a 4.0 GPA for next year from my average 3.4 GPA this year. When I lived in Texas I was in many Advanced Placement classes that included Pre-AP Physics, AP English III, and AP World History.

When I attend college I wish to study Physical Therapy as a major and gain either my Master's Degree or my Doctor's Degree. Ever since I was little I had a fascination of the muscles, ligaments, bones, and functions of the body and how they work together. I tore my ACL in November of 2012 and after my surgery and I went into Physical Therapy, I didn't only do what my therapist wanted. I paid attention to everything she did. From the way she instructed me, to the massages she gave to my knee. I'm a great listener, which is one of the things all my coaches have said that they love about me, and has helped in my aspiration as a future certified Physical Therapist.

In order to be in a successful team there a many attributes needed. One of them is communication, another is listening and applying it into drills and games, another is respect- which I think is one of the most important ones, and finally integrity. Communication is important because if things aren't going smoothly on the team, one needs to be able to tell the rest of the team in order to fix the problem. Problems in any relationship cannot be solved without good communication. Marriages can't be kept together, friendships won't last, and teams won't win without good communication. With communication, there comes listening. Listening is a key factor in communication. The athletes need to listen to coaches in order to learn from their knowledge and experience. On one of my teams, there was a girl who didn’t want to listen to the coaches. She thought she was good enough without a team and without the knowledge of a coach who has coached for a long time and who played basketball in college. Our team lost many times not only because of this one girl, but because everyone fed off of her attitude. Listening to coaches and other teammates can help a team member understand the strengths and weaknesses of others, and get better at a position, move, or a play.

Respect is of the upmost importance right beside integrity. Without respect for the coaches, teammates, and one’s self there can be no success. Respect for the coaches is very important, for one if there is no respect the athlete should not play, but also the athlete cannot get better. My coaches have not only trained me for games and competitions. They have trained me for real world events. I may not like some of the things my coach says, but I respect her and listen and do as she says. In a job, I may not like what my boss has to say, but I respect him/her because he/she is my boss and must listen or I don’t keep my job.

Finally integrity is very important. Being truthful, respectful, and having a virtuous life is very important to me. My family and I are very religious and believe that being truthful is high on our lists for characteristics. Teams and other relationships can’t stand if they are based on lies and cheats. If a teammate has a problem with another, if a sibling, friend, spouse has a problem with another, one must not lie in order to avoid a certain situation. One must work it out to keep any animosity away from those who they care about.