Lenoir-Rhyne’s Phillips Leaves Her Mark On and Off Court

Story courtesy Lexington (N.C.) Dispatch.

Link to story here
December 07. 2006 1:00PM

Jason Queen
jason.queen@the-dispatch.com


This morning, Kathryn Phillips was supposed to be at three places at 11:15.

Rest assured, she found a way.

Phillips has been flying through life at full speed the past three and a half years, since she graduated from West Davidson, and there's little reason to believe she'll take her foot off the pedal anytime soon.

What has she done since walking onto the Lenoir-Rhyne campus in the fall of 2003? Well, she has: taken enough classes to graduate one semester early; earned a degree in psychology with a perfect 4.0 GPA; co-authored a study on violence and the portrayal of women in video games; interned at a psychiatric hospital, working with patients with various mental and emotional needs; been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America second team; won the PEF/Bears Club Scholar Athlete of the Year; been named the South Atlantic Conference Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year; led the Bears to two conference titles, including the first league title and trip to the NCAA tournament in school history in 2004; set new school records in career blocks and blocks per game; started every match in her career; and served as president of the school's Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Psy Chi honors society and vice president of her sorority, Kappa Delta.

Whew. Try fitting all that into a résumé without forgetting anything.

All the young people who get a reputation for being lazy can point to Phillips as a poster child for Generation X or Generation Y. As in why in the world would a college student waste all her time working hard in sports and in the classroom, trying to make the world a better place? Did she miss the memo that college was for partying and wasting your parents' money that doesn't grow on trees?

"I think when you're doing a whole bunch of things you really enjoy, time is not an issue," she said Wednesday while taking an ultra-rare break. "Sometimes when I'm rushed I get a little stressed.

"But at the end of the day, I can look back and know I've done stuff that meant a lot to me."

Her volleyball career has certainly meant a lot to her and the Bears. Along with Ledford graduate Leslie Hinkle, she has helped turn the Bears into a perennial power in the SAC. But her selfless demeanor has made all of her accolades humbling. "I am very proud," she said. "I've been really blessed here at L-R, both with volleyball and academically.

"And it's always nice to get recognized for what you do when you work hard. Last week when I heard about the All-America team, I was floored."

Not only has she proven to be an academic All-American, she fits the very definition of an All-American girl. And her life on and off the court are polar opposites, from kill leader to life changer. She is genuinely concerned about what type of video games and media children are exposed to. She and her adviser, Karen Dill, received a grant in the spring for a research product looking into the video-game phenomenon that has certainly contributed to the obesity and aggression in today's youths. The study investigated the top six-selling gaming magazines on the market, examining the percentage of aggressive characters and the percentage of sexualized women featured in the magazines. The study has been submitted for publication and should be published in the near future.

Yet with all the honors she has received, Phillips considers her internship in the psychiatric ward at Frye Regional Medical Center in Hickory her most valuable experience. "I was fortunate enough to do an internship and spend time with all sorts of people," she said. "There is a pediatric unit, a substance abuse unit, some developmentally disabled patients.

"And I just fell in love with all the populations I got to work with. It was really rewarding to go in and talk to patients and know when you leave they feel better."

While her undergraduate days are drawing to a rapid close ("I'm so bored, I'm about to go out of my mind," she says), Phillips will soon be hard at it again. She has applied with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Clinical Doctorate Psychology Program and expects to earn her Ph.D. in five years. "But those programs are very competitive to get into," she said. "They usually get 250 applications and only take seven people.

"After that I'd like to work for a nonprofit clinic, working with the mentally ill."

Regardless of Phillips' next stop, two things are certain: she will give it her all, and she will leave it a better place.