凯利Dopke
From Vandal athletics to academics, Dopke’s determination and success remain unwavering
对许多学生运动员来说, the challenges that accumulate with a hectic sports schedule and rigorous academic criteria can be overwhelming. But there are also those who seem to thrive off of the hardships and excel, 尽管他们有很多事要做.
One of these individuals is soccer player 凯利Dopke, who will graduate this spring from the University of Idaho with a 4.平均绩点0，医学学位, 辅修学前保健专业, and a certificate in diversity and stratification.
With the aspiration of one day becoming a doctor, Dopke learned early on she would have to commit to a demanding class load, 腾出时间做志愿者, 担任领导职务, 参加医学实习, receive high Medical College Admission Test scores and have an outstanding cumulative GPA, all while traveling across the country to play games and set aside time to train for the soccer season.
多普克远远超过了这些目标. She has received accolades throughout her collegiate career including the Athlete Crush Impact Lead Award, 校友卓越奖, Avista奖学金运动员, Big Sky Athlete of the Week and the Google Cloud Academic All-America First Team honors.
皮特•艾萨克森, 犹他大学的临时体育主管, has grown close to Dopke over her years in his position and admires the athlete’s tenacity and drive for success.
“Some people see challenges, Kelly sees opportunities,” Isakson said.
从2018年5月初开始, Isakson worked with a hiring committee to hire new soccer coach Jeremy Clevenger and asked Dopke’s opinion for what she would like to see in the right candidate.
“We have a high academic standard on this team,” was Dopke’s response. “I want to have someone who comes in who will hold us to a high academic standard and make sure that we are keeping our grades up and doing the things in the classroom that we need to be doing.”
Dopke’s unwavering desire for success has made her an invaluable player and leader on the U of I soccer team. 反过来, Dopke credits those relationships with her teammates and coaches as some of the fundamental reasons for her accomplishments at U of I. That comradery between Dopke and her team first began when an unforeseen tragedy occurred during the spring of Dopke’s senior year in high school, 在她承诺为汪达尔人效力之后.
5月31日, 2015, my brother was killed in a motorcycle accident and it changed everything,多普克说. “It was really hard at first because someone so close to you is taken so suddenly, 这太出乎意料了. I always wondered if there was something someone could have done.”
就在她哥哥死后, Dopke received condolences from every member of the soccer team, saying how sorry they were for her loss but how ecstatic they were to have Dopke join the team. 在一起, the players and coaches helped Dopke cope with the loss of her brother and provided a support system that became Dopke’s irreplaceable Vandal Family.
“来自球队和教练的支持, 我一到这里, 他们说如果你需要什么, 让我们知道,多普克说. “That was crazy, I had never felt that on any other team.”
After her brother’s passing, Dopke solidified her decision to become a doctor. 在她心中, it would be a dream career if she could make someone’s life better and prevent them from going through the grieving process she and her family endured.
莉斯科比, the pre-health professions program coordinator for U of I, said pre-med students are practically “super human” with everything they’ve been able to accomplish by the time they reach their senior year. 对于Dopke, who has continued to dedicate her time to being her best self each day, 超人似乎是个合适的头衔.
在她不断追求成功的动力背后, Dopke points to her brother’s favorite quote from Martin Luther King Jr.: “The quality not the longevity of one’s life is what is important.” Dopke uses this adage to remind herself to live life to the fullest every day, 永远不要认为任何事情都是理所当然的. While her brother is no longer alive, she wants to live in his image and make him proud.
One of Dopke’s core values is that success is never granted, 但这是通过坚定不移的奉献实现的.
“You have to earn every little bit of it,” she said.
在伊利诺伊大学完成她的四年学业后, 获得了多项荣誉, 担任过各种领导职务, training and playing soccer during the entirety of her college career, 以4分毕业.0 GPA and never losing sight of her goal and passion to one day becoming a doctor, Dopke has without a doubt earned every bit of her success.
