Maya Patel always dreamed of playing volleyball in college, but she valued academics and was looking for a place where she could pursue both to their fullest potential. So when she received a call from a UChicago coach following a big club volleyball tournament and learned more about the College, she scheduled a visit.
The fourth-year from Cerritos, Calif., played volleyball throughout her undergraduate career, and was honored as an all-league player by the University Athletic Association (UAA) in three of her four years. She will graduate this spring with a double major in biological sciences and art history, and is currently applying to medical school.
Why UChicago?
After that high school tournament when I got on the phone with the volleyball coach at UChicago, we talked nothing about volleyball. It was about everything and anything in between. She wanted me to come visit, and that visit sealed the deal.
I was blown away—in part by the architecture, you can’t argue with how beautiful campus is—but all of the students I walked around campus with, in the classes I attended, people on the volleyball team were so in love with learning. I was enamored with that. I wanted to come here and grow and develop in the way that I saw students around me doing.
What is an experience that stands out during your time here?
That’s hard—I’m involved in a lot of things on campus. I remember one day when I went straight from an art history class to a chem lab, then straight to practice, and then to one of my RSO groups… it’s a lot, but amazing.
Outside of class, it was probably when the volleyball team went on a trip to Brazil last spring—the team raised funds as part of Giving Day. We got to sightsee and play volleyball, but the highlight was hosting a volleyball camp for a group of local kids at the end of the week. Seeing the joy they had playing the same sport I played, talking to them about how we played in college, and how we were able to do both sports and academics, was really cool.