“Our Stories” is a RamblinWreck.com feature that provides first-person stories from current Georgia Tech student-athletes on their journey through academics, competition, and life once their athletic careers are over. These young men and women represent the ideals of what it means to be a STUDENT-athlete at Georgia Tech.
These are their journeys in their words.
September 2, 2015 – Nathan Rakitt, Men’s Tennis, Industrial and Systems Engineering
Growing up, I thought roller coasters were the devil. As someone who prefers to be more or less in control of his surroundings, allowing myself to be launched upwards of 100 yards in the air, shot down to Earth at 60 mph, then enduring a twist or turn is not the way I envisioned “having a good time.” On my official visit to Georgia Tech as a wide-eyed, insecure high school senior, one of the first activities I participated in with the team was – of course – a trip to Six Flags.
Was I going to showcase my intense fear of heights and rollercoasters as the first impression to my potential future teammates? Of course not. I sucked it up and pretended that I had the time of my life. As a fourth-year member of the men’s tennis team here at Georgia Tech, I have encountered my fair share of roller coaster-sized highs, lows, twists, turns, dips, and dives in my tennis, academic, and personal endeavors. [Read the rest of Nathan’s story]
September 16, 2015 – Samantha Pierannunzi, Softball, Business Administration
Here’s a little fun fact about me – my biggest fear is failure. Not just failure in general, but the overall feeling that you disappoint someone because you’re not good enough. This is ironic though because I play softball, a sport designed so that to even be considered the best of the best, you fail at a rate of about 60 percent. Former Oklahoma slugger Lauren Chamberlain was considered arguably the best hitter in college softball in her career and her batting average topped off at .395, which means she failed more in her career than she succeeded. So you might wonder, how can you possibly play a sport that requires you to fail and still be afraid?
Plain and simple: you can’t. I had to learn that the hard way. [Read the rest of Sam’s story]
September 30, 2015 – Megan Kurey, Women’s Tennis, Management
I thought I had everything figured out. I finally found the place where I was going to spend the next four years of my life. I had my bags packed and I was ready to walk out the door to start the next chapter of my life. Before I was set to leave for Atlanta, I received the news that my head coach, who had recruited me for the past two years, was headed to another school. I couldn’t help but be disappointed because of the long process it took me to find the perfect fit. After a small amount of consideration, I knew that there were multiple reasons why I chose Georgia Tech, not just one.
I proceeded to head down the road to Atlanta and little did I know the joys that were ahead of me at a place I now call home. [Read the rest of Megan’s story]
October 14, 2015 – Marcus Georges-Hunt, Men’s Basketball, LMC
October 28, 2015 – Yuval Safra, Men’s Swimming, Business