by Megan Murray

sports editor

Kate Hall was a volleyball player and biochemistry major at Millsaps College, graduating in 2011. During her four-year volleyball career at Millsaps, the 5’11” Hall was a lethal outside hitter with a career-best 427 kills during her sophomore season at Millsaps. She was also selected third team all-conference her sophomore season and second team all-conference her junior year. Hall continues her athletic spirit by attending Coyote Crossfit in Madison, Mississippi, and competing in numerous Crossfit competitions around the Jackson metro area. She was also a member of the Chi Omega sorority at Millsaps. Hall was accepted to medical school at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in December 2014 and will begin in August.

The Purple & White: What has your life been like since you graduated from Millsaps?
Kate Hall: Graduating from Millsaps was the saddest day of my life. After that I had to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Millsaps gave me all the tools to pick whatever kind of career I wanted to. Being a biology major, there were several options I could choose from. However, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. When I graduated I did some field biology research trips with Dr. Brent Hendrixson, and I really enjoyed those, but it just wasn’t what I wanted to do. After that, I shadowed a physical therapist for a while because it felt like a natural extension from being in athletics. After doing all that, I got accepted to the Masters program at Mississippi College and did really well in those classes. I wouldn’t have done well without [everything I learned from] Millsaps. Then I decided that medical school was the route I wanted to take. Millsaps allowed me to be a well-rounded student. Being in athletics, I was able to learn time management, which gave me a lot of skills that some people don’t have. Millsaps helped me prepare for [everything I have done in my life].

P&W: Who was your biggest motivator while you were at Millsaps?
KH: My biggest motivators were my professors. They were there for me and understood that athletics took up a lot of my time. They would let me take tests early or late and were very understanding. At the same time, they knew that my goal was to find a career that I enjoyed and loved… my reasons for going to Millsaps [were] education number one and athletics number two. My professors helped me seek out my goal. Dr. Brent Hendrixson was a big inspiration for me when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do when I graduated. He let me come on his research trips and try that out. Even though that wasn’t what I wanted to do, it all worked out in the end.

P&W: What are some of the best memories you had at Millsaps?
KH: My best memories would be traveling with my teammates on vans or buses [for away games]. We were like family and best friends. We shared everything and did everything together and we really worked well together. Traveling together was a lot of fun and I’ll never be able to replace that with anything else.

P&W: what was the biggest lesson you learned being a student-athlete at Millsaps?
KH: Being a student-athlete at Millsaps taught me a lot of things and skills that I wouldn’t have found anywhere else. The biggest lessons I learned would be working hard for something and time management. I don’t think I would have pursued medical school if it weren’t for Millsaps and being a student-athlete. When I want something, I will go after it and being a student-athlete at Millsaps taught me that.