The secret to balancing a hectic college career? University of Mary Washington senior and champion swimmer Kinsey Brooks credits three things: stay organized, find a good podcast and sleep when you can.
For Brooks – a member of UMW’s nursing program who won a string of accolades on the women’s swim team and landed a job in a top-ranked neonatal intensive care program – this was no small feat. Yet, the flexibility of online courses, specific to her nursing program, a supportive coach, and a few unforgettable moments were her anchors through the chaos.
“Standing there on the podium and seeing my parents so proud made me so proud of myself,” Brooks said of her performance and UMW’s win of the inaugural New Jersey Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championship in February. In Brook’s three-year career, she has become a nine-time All-American, earned back-to-back UMW Female Athlete of the Year awards, and received three conference Swimmer of the Year honors.
Hailing from a small town in Missouri, Brooks moved to Fredericksburg during middle school. Having started swimming at the age of 7, the sport became her initial social outlet, providing a bridge between her old life and the new community she was embracing. She envisioned herself attending a large university renowned for its veterinary program, but a stint in the CNA program the summer before her senior year of high school shifted her perspective to healthcare and put UMW back on the map in her college search.
At UMW, Brooks is part of the 1+2+1 nursing program, which allows students to earn an associate degree from Germanna Community College and a bachelor’s degree from UMW, both in nursing – all in four years. During her nursing school journey, Brooks initially believed labor and delivery was her calling, but after experiencing different clinicals, including the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), her feelings changed. She thrived in the fast-paced environment.
Her swim connections led her to Children’s National Hospital of Washington, D.C., and she remembers the moment she learned she got the job. “I woke up from a nap. There was an email from Children’s that read, ‘Your decision is in.’”
Her position in the hospital’s Level 4 NICU, the nation’s second-ranked program of its type, “is a hard job to not be motivated by,” said Brooks, who developed a particular affinity for micro preemies, babies born before 26 weeks’ gestation. A personal experience with a resilient patient born just 23 weeks after conception left a lasting impression. “You can request constant care, so I did. I worked with him for months,” Brooks said. “It’s so rewarding. There were times we thought he wasn’t going to make it, but he did. He went home.”
Women’s swimming coach Justin Anderson worked around her schedule, offering practices as early as 3 a.m. and as late as 10 p.m. Coach Anderson remarked of Brooks commitment to swimming, “no matter what the race is even if it’s not one of her primary events she is always going to give her all and do whatever she can to get her hand on the wall first.”
After graduation, Brooks plans to continue her job in the NICU at Children’s National, and trade her swimming for “a whole lot of running” and marathons. She’s sad, she said, to see her swimming career come to an end but shared these parting words:
“It has been one hell of a ride, but I’m glad this was my UMW experience.”
