Reed M. '05, Tufts '10, NYU '16

I didn’t realize the impact it would have at the time, but it was my experience as a student-athlete at Berkeley Carroll that eventually led to my career in public health and fitness. The school helped inspire many of my interests early on which have now become true passions.

A BC “lifer,” I was at the school from PreK through 12th grade. In seventh grade I joined the Middle School basketball team — starting at 13 years old I was learning the basics of health and fitness with a lot of individual attention. I wanted to be a college basketball player like my dad and luckily I got to do that as a point guard at Tufts University.

I was on a pre-med track in college, but once I discovered the public health program I realized it covered the topics I was already interested in as an athlete and had seriously researched on my own time. I fell in love with it and double majored in public health and child development because I’ve always loved working with kids as well. In May 2016, I’ll graduate with a master’s degree in public health and nutrition from NYU. This all began in the BC gym, thinking about how I could improve my own performance.

BC taught me the importance of teamwork, in the classroom and on the court. It was one of the most important lessons I learned at the school and, along with leadership, is now something I use every day in my career.

This has all come full circle — I’ve reached a point where I have the experience and knowledge to give back to the community I grew up in. For example, I’m on the board of the Horizons Leadership Project, which provides after school basketball programming and educational services for low-income students and is run out of Park Slope. I also coached basketball at BC for two years — I love working with young athletes.

I still keep in touch with some of the teachers I had at BC and love seeing how the school has evolved — it makes me very proud to be a Berkeley Carroll alum and I know a lot of other people feel that way as well.