TQL former college athletes: Katie
Being a college athlete takes hard work and determination, and Total Quality Logistics counts many of these standouts as team members. We share their stories in this new feature.
Katie K. will be the first to say her college athletic career wasn’t what she expected it to be.
After accepting a scholarship to be a high jumper on the University of Cincinnati’s track and field team, the 6-foot-1 Pennsylvania native was leveled by injuries that largely left her unable to compete.
First was the bone bruise that left her in a boot for an entire year. Then, a stress fracture in her shin. Those injuries to her right leg, coupled with the demands of the sport, took a toll on her knee, hip and back.
Katie underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus, only for a cyst to form in her knee when it didn’t heal properly. She had a second knee surgery the spring of her senior season.
“At the end of my career, my college coach told me, ‘I waited every day for you to quit. I’m proud of you because you stuck it out,’” Katie said. “I’m not a quitter.”
Now a TQL National Sales Recruiter II, Katie still carries the lessons she learned in college athletics. She honed her relationship-building skills, persistence and patience. She found new ways to support her teammates when she couldn’t compete alongside them.
Although she participated in less than 20 indoor and outdoor meets in a career that could have yielded 80, Katie sharpened her work ethic nonetheless by training as much as possible and rooting on her team.
Her passion today? Recruiting new TQL’ers.
“I’m a people person, and I love developing those relationships,” Katie said.
Want to work with unique and accomplished TQL team members? Visit TQLJobs.com.
