As she approached the end of her high school golf career, 21岁的安妮·帕里斯(Annie Paris)发现自己患上了许多运动员都很熟悉的疾病:精疲力竭. But when she won a state championship during the fall of her senior year, Paris realized she wasn’t ready to let go just yet. Though she was initially unsure about attending a small school, Paris thrived in Rhodes’ intimate setting, and went on to double major in business and religious studies. Today, Paris works as a volunteer Coordinator for the FedEx St. 裘德 Championship + WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, a position she initially learned about through her golf coach, 迈克·克莱，77年. 帕里斯称赞365体育滚球体育帮助她建立了在专业环境中茁壮成长所必需的技能, 说, “I think Rhodes and Division III athletics are the reason I could do it all”. 以下是她的更多故事:
Interview conducted by Eliana Mabe '23.
EM:
How did you first find yourself 365体育滚球? 是什么引起你的注意的? Did you always want to pursue golf at the collegiate level?
AP:
我从10岁开始打高尔夫球, and I played all through middle school, 整个高中, and competitively throughout the summers...I was honestly getting a little burnt out by the end of my senior year. 当我参观大学的时候, 我有两个目标:第一，我可能会打高尔夫球，然后去看看365体育滚球岛这样的学校, or B) maybe 我只是 want to go to a big school and leave golf behind. I knew of Rhodes because my cousin is a 2014 graduate, 所以我去参观了一下, it was the first school I visited and I was like, 你知道, 我真的很喜欢, 但 我只是 want to see all that's out there.
My senior year I won the state championship for golf.... I looked at my parents and I was like, I'm not done yet... 我得继续打下去. So, 我取消了那些我不能打高尔夫球的学校，把重点放在罗兹和其他几所学校上. 这是我在开车回纳什维尔的路上最后一次拜访, 这是适合我的地方. Coach Clary was awesome in the recruiting process the whole time. (他)对我很有耐心——他从一开始就知道我是大三学生, that I didn’t know if I wanted to play golf anymore, 但我很高兴我这么做了. I loved my college years playing golf.
EM:
What was your experience being a student athlete off the course? 罗兹的要求非常严格，无论你学什么专业，都很难找到平衡. 你能谈谈你作为一名学生运动员学到的东西吗?你觉得你和那些不参加罗兹体育运动的人有不同的观点吗?
AP:
I think Rhodes and Division III athletics are the reason I could do it all. 这是我到学校后意识到的一件事，哦，等等，我可以成为一名运动员. I can make good grades and double major in things. 我可以加入女生联谊会. I can be involved in other extracurriculars. 我可以去找份工作. 我的意思是，你必须有条理，你必须能够计划你的一天, 但 I've been able to kind of do it all 365体育滚球, 这可能是我经历中最喜欢的部分，因为我从来都不是只会一招的小马, 我会说. So, the fact you could do it all [was big]. I double majored in business and religious studies. 业务 for my career--religious studies was kind of for me, 我只是 fell in love with all the classes and professors. 我们的教练鼓励我读双学位，探索新事物，我的教授们对我成为一名运动员很满意. As you get up into your majors and your upper-level classes, and you get to have these professors' multiple times, and some of them are your advisors and things like that, 然后他们会真正了解你，明白这项运动对你有多重要, and how important school is as well. 所以，它真的以一种我认为不可能的方式结合在一起，但我很高兴它做到了.
EM:
你觉得你作为学生运动员所面临和克服的挑战是什么?你觉得这些挑战对你现在的工作很有用，或者帮助你获得365体育滚球奖?
AP:
当你即将加入一个大学团队时，有一件事听起来很有趣，那就是我不知道如何成为一名队友, 因为高尔夫是个人运动，我一生中参加的大部分比赛都是个人比赛. I had a six-week high school season, and it wasn't a great experience. 所以, 365体育滚球, I really learned how to be on a team, 管理团队活力, 成为一个团队的队长, 做一个团队的追随者, 和旅行团一起旅行. When it came time to get a job and be on a small team that runs a tournament, learning those interpersonal dynamics was huge for me. 听起来很傻, one thing people don't get about golf is you're not on a team, 真的, 直到大学. 这对我来说太棒了.
EM:
你能谈谈你在365体育滚球高尔夫球队最难忘的回忆吗?
AP:
EM:
在联邦快递锦标赛的面试过程中，你是如何发现自己的?这份工作是如何如此迅速地成为现实的?
AP:
2019年，孟菲斯锦标赛从美巡赛联合批准的赛事转变为世界高尔夫锦标赛, 这是一个巨大的升级，意味着我们将把世界上最好的球员带到孟菲斯.
当时我是罗兹大学的大二学生我去找克莱瑞教练告诉了他, “I wanna work for this tournament this summer.” So, he connected me with the sports marketing department at ALSAC-St. 裘德. 我大二那年从1月到8月的比赛都在那里实习. That was my first interaction with the tournament. I absolutely loved it and was doing it again my junior year until Covid hit.
我们甚至不确定比赛是否会举行，所以他们几乎让所有参与其中的人都走了. 然后到了2020年秋天，我们并没有全职回到罗兹，它还在网上.... I was like, all right, I need to do something. 我只是, 我不能整天无所事事，我当然也不会和我在纳什维尔的父母呆在家里....我得做点什么. So, 我在球场的高尔夫商店找到了一份工作在TPC Southland举行的比赛在日耳曼敦/科利维尔地区. So, I worked up there all fall and really got to know the tournament staff... 所以, when this opportunity came about in February of 2021, they invited me to come interview for it...and I've been doing that ever since.
EM:
你还把打高尔夫球当作消遣吗?
AP:
是的, 所以当我们不在比赛期间每周工作80个小时的时候，我的工作也有很多. 就像上周, I got to go play an outing for one of the charities I volunteer for, Boys and Girls Club of Greater Memphis. So, I got to play a little bit there. 很有趣. I'm trying to learn how to play golf for fun. 并不是说大学高尔夫不好玩，而是它是一种不同的竞争性乐趣. This is a “ride in the golf cart and play your music” type of thing. And that’s a whole new world for me.
EM:
我想我的最后一个问题是你想给现在的学生运动员，甚至是现在想要继续从事体育运动的高中生什么建议?
AP:
I think a big thing is to be proud of being a DIII athlete. 每个在我前面的女孩(和我一起长大的)都去D1学校打高尔夫球等等, 有一些自我意识，比如“哦，我在玩DIII”，但我会说DIII是最适合我的. You get to do a little bit of everything. That'd be my second thing is you're coming to school, don't just do your sport. 去探索其他的机会，参加联谊会，参加俱乐部，参加说唱，做一些其他的事情，找一份工作. 做点别的事情，不要觉得你在这里只是为了做你的运动, 在一天结束的时候, 比赛结束了, you have to go get a job or go to medical school or go to law school.... Just knowing that you have other skills, and you can really make that great, well-rounded resume where they're like, not only were you a college athlete, 但, look at all this other stuff you did. 我认为这是一个独特的365体育滚球机会，我没有真正看到它的到来，我很高兴我能推广它. 然后, 最后, 真的要依靠你的教练和其他运动人员来帮助你. I wouldn’t be where I am without my golf coach, Coach Clary. 是他把我带进第一次实习的大门的他总是说, “我不能帮你找到那份工作, 但 I can get you in the door for you to go get it for you.“这对我来说意义重大.