University of Tennessee Athletics
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
September 05, 2006 | Baseball
Sept. 5, 2006
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Being from New Orleans, Rob Fitzgerald, UT baseball all-star, understands the importance of goals and living life to the fullest.
"My family was actually extremely lucky after Katrina," Fitzgerald said. "In New Orleans the damage just depended on what block you lived on. Two blocks down a house would be flooded, but our house was fine."
Fitzgerald moved back to New Orleans after graduating this past December and is now working and supporting a city that is still rebuilding.
"There have been a lot of teachers laid off at the school my parents work at, some people just are not moving back and there are not enough kids," Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald is working hard however doing research for a cardiologist in New Orleans and giving lessons to younger baseball players. Fitzgerald wants to pursue his goals and enroll in medical school during the fall of 2007.
"While I was a student at UT, I began taking a lot of biology classes, and being around a lot of sports related injuries, it created an interest in the human body and how it works," Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald currently wants to pursue orthopedic surgery or pediatrics, at either Louisiana State University, Tulane, UT Memphis, or University of North Carolina. Fitzgerald says he owes a lot of his perseverance and work ethic to being a student-athlete at UT.
"Being a student-athlete taught me to manage my time more efficiently. With all of the traveling and playing it is hard to keep up with all of your academic work," Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald, however did keep up with his academics and was on the Thornton Center Honor Roll from 2002-2005, SEC All-Academic 2002-2005, and was the Ed America Tennessee Male Scholar Athlete of the Year 2003-2004.
