Competitive gymnast Nikki Brown has been dreaming about going to medical school for a long time. This August her dream will come true.
Brown, a native of Louisville, Ky., will attend medical school at the University of Kentucky, where she plans to study pediatrics or orthopedics. She will graduate from DU on June 6 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and double minors in chemistry and biology.
For the last four years, Brown competed on uneven bars, balance beam and floor for DU gymnastics. She has performed in four regional tournaments and two national tournaments. Brown competed in all 13 meets every season and has won several event titles.
Gymnastics was not all Brown focused on during her time at DU, however.
“I was able to manage a pre-med curriculum in school and be a contributing member of the gymnastics team here at DU, and at the same time, I maintained the level of social life that I wanted throughout all four years,” she says.
Brown attributes her successful undergraduate education to the resources at DU. She has felt an impact on her life from interacting with her coaches, teachers, teammates and administrators.
“I know I would not be where I am, or who I am, today, if it had not been for them and their continual support,” says Brown.
She will leave nothing unfinished as she heads to Kentucky. Brown says she has achieved everything she wanted in both the classroom and the gym, while making lifelong friends along the way.
Brown has enjoyed her experience at DU and cannot wait to return as an alumna in years to come. She says she considers her team and the people she met at DU to be family.
“I know that the college experience I had here at DU could not have been matched anywhere else in the country,” says Brown.
For more information or for streaming video of DU’s commencement ceremony, please visit DU’s commencement Web site.