PALO ALTO, California – On the last day of her senior year, Rachel Heck sat outside the gates of St. Agnes Academy in Memphis, Tennessee, with friends – spaced out, of course – and shed some tears. Heck had been in school with more than a dozen of her 99 classmates since age 3. They’d parted ways for Spring Break on a Friday, thinking nothing of it, and never returned.
“The last day you run down the hallway and slam all the lockers,” said Heck. “There were so many traditions that we just didn’t get to do.”
As if that weren’t bad enough, the fall semester of college golf at Stanford was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While other conferences forged on, the Pac 12 did not compete. A lost Heck found herself sending out S.O.S. messages in the Zoom chat of CS106A, an intro to computer science class. One morning she got up at 8 a.m. to work on an assignment in her Memphis bedroom and by 3 p.m. had gotten nowhere.
“I had nothing on my screen and just started bawling,” said Heck. “I’m supposed to be on campus. I’m supposed to have resources.”
Mercifully, fellow Cardinal students came to her aid. She eventually found a local tutor.
Heck can laugh about it now. Sitting outdoors at a long table at Osteria Toscana in Palo Alto, many things have started to feel familiar again. Osteria is a frequent haunt for the Cardinal, a nice place to bring recruits on campus visits. Four Stanford teammates have gathered here on a pleasant spring evening to talk about recent detours and silver linings. Any mention of hardship is usually laced with humor.
There’s great perspective here.
Left to right: Angelina Ye, Aline Krauter, Rachel Heck and Ziwi Yang
Now three months into life as a college student-athlete, Heck, one of the hottest players in college golf, is still getting to know her teammates. The entire team lives in the same dorm on the same hall due to COVID-19 protocols. Running into each other throughout the day at the bathroom sink or dining
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By: Beth Ann Nichols
Title: Making up for lost time: Stanford teammates talk detours and silver linings ahead of NCAA postseason
Sourced From: golfweek.usatoday.com/2021/05/09/stanford-detours-silver-linings-ncaa-postseason/
Published Date: Sun, 09 May 2021 15:52:20 +0000
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