B.S. in Exercise Science Student, Life U Women’s Rugby Player

“Defying Limits”

Just south of Nashville is a little cozy town in Tennessee called Columbia. That is where Adrianna Langley grew up as the youngest of three siblings, trailing behind her older brother and sister. Growing up “kind of in the middle of nowhere” USA, Langley’s childhood followed a similar pattern to many kids in that scenario. Life revolved around various sports and maintaining a high standard of academics, resulting in Langley graduating among the top of the class in high school.

Prior to high school, soccer had been the focus of Langley’s athletic world until she discovered rugby her freshman year.

“I just fell in love with [Rugby],” Langley said.

When it comes to rugby, what is not to love? It’s a highly physical sport that challenges the mind and body, empowering the players to work together toward a common goal in a continuous, fast-paced match. And in Langley’s case, it opened opportunities that might not otherwise have been available to her. Community college seemed like the next step after high school, but Langley had a powerful desire to contribute her time and talents to a collegiate rugby program. A fortuitous scholarship to Life University (Life U) to become a proud Running Eagle for Life U’s Women’s Rugby team afforded her that chance.

Freshman year at Life U started off strong, with Langley forging close friendships with her teammates. Unfortunately, however, adversity hit Langley early on with an injury in her first fall quarter that sidelined her for the remainder of her first season. Yet valuable learning opportunities often come when we are forced to take a step back and refocus.

As a B.S. in Exercise Science student, Langley has a profound interest in the science of rehabilitation in its many forms. Having that forced time out to consider with professionals the best possible path to facilitate wellness, Langley was able to get into the mindset of future patients, to have a greater understanding for those pains and frustrations. It afforded her a richer depth of perspective to observe what seemed to work well and consider what she might have done differently if she were enacting a care plan. Overall, she found it to be a long exercise in patience, understanding that it takes time for the body to heal itself as care is taken to promote that healing. After graduation, she hopes to use these life skills and the education she has received to become a cardiac rehab specialist.

“That’s going to be more of my job, caring about my patients and making sure that I’m giving them the idea that they can have a better quality of life, and they’re just going to have to work with me and stick with it,” Langley said.

“We might have to try a bunch of different things, but I’m going to do my best to encourage them and keep them in tune with their protocols and get them out of there as soon as I can.”

And with that renewed insight, Langley returned to the field triumphant and eager to perform fiercely with her teammates. And as she now approaches graduation, she faces her future with equal parts hope and grit.

“You can always be pushed past your limit, whatever you think your limit is,” Langley said.

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