2021 Sports Medicine Senior of the Year to attend Slippery Rock

Congratulations to Hampton Township’s Lauren Graff who was named Co-Salutatorian at A.W. Beattie Career Center!

Lauren will attend Slippery Rock University for Exercise Science and to become a Physical Therapist. She was motivated to pursue a career in Sports Medicine from an early age due to being in physical therapy.

“I fell in love with what the people who were helping me were doing,” Lauren said. “I loved everything about it. I want people to feel the same way I did when I was in physical therapy.”

Her favorite part about being in Beattie’s Sports Medicine program was learning what it takes to work in the field, as well as, how the body functions.

“I loved the hands-on learning we did and how we applied everything we learned in class to actually doing it with our friends,” Lauren said. “I learned more than I ever thought I would know in high school. even though it was sometimes challenging, I was interested in everything we did. This class definitely did test my limits but if you study and prepare anything is possible.”

Lauren feels confident that program instructors Mr. Vtipil and Mrs. Lang prepared her for college.

“They’ve been a big influence on me, and I’ve talked to a few who have gone from Beattie to Slippery Rock, and they’ve basically said I’ve already learned and experienced what my first year and beyond will be like there,” Lauren said. “That’s a great feeling to know what’s coming next because their goal is to help you. They’ll always give you an honest answer and they’ll work with you until you get it.”

She also made several lifelong friendships in the program.

“Because they have the same interests as you and they’re learning the same things as you, you get to form a strong bond with them,” Lauren said. “If you’re younger than someone, they become a mentor and they help you. If you’re a year older, you become their mentor. And it’s smaller groups of people who are all in the same position you are. We’re all making sure this is what we want for our future and the more we help each other the better off we’ll all be.”

Lauren is in National Technical Honor Society and the Hampton Marching Band. She volunteers for UPMC as a PT helper, her church’s summer camp, and fish fries.

Good Luck Lauren!