SPORTS STORIES:
SPORTS INFORMATION—2009
TENNIS player now, will serve country later as nurse...
CLEVELAND, OH (October 6, 2009) - Why did freshman Erika Lim (Fullerton, CA) travel cross country from the Los Angeles area to Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University? Two reasons – collegiate tennis and to attend a nursing school with a great reputation.
“The nursing school here has a really great reputation and I really wanted to get into that field,” Lim explained. “When I came here for a visit I fell in love with Case. It was the type of environment that I wanted to be in.”
A great reputation is what Lim and the 2009 Spartan women’s tennis team is developing this fall. The team is off to a 3-0 start, which includes a team title at an Allegheny College tournament last month.
Lim is a perfect 6-0 [3-0 in No. 2 singles, 3-0 in No. 1 doubles] in the team’s three fall matches thus far and performed well at this past weekend’s Wilson/ITA Central Regional.
“Erika has been extremely impressive since the day she got here,” said second-year Head Coach Todd Wojtkowski. “On the court, she has the ability to strike the ball about as clean as I have ever seen a girl strike the ball and her eye-hand coordination is phenomenal.”
In 2013, when Lim is scheduled to graduate from the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve, she won’t continue to wear light blue scrubs. She will turn those in for a camouflage uniform and become a member of the United States Army.
Lim is on a ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) scholarship, which means she will pay back the United States Army in hours, days, months and years. As much as they paid in tuition.
“I will be serving my country for at least four years after I graduate,” Lim explained. “My plan is to be a nurse in the Army. [The Army] has been part of our family for so long - I want to continue that tradition.”
Lim will become a third generation soldier when she enters in a few years as both her father and grandfather are Army men. Her grandfather, Bill, served in the Korean War and her dad is serving right now.
Lieutenant Colonel John Lim, Lim’s father who is 52 years old, is currently stationed in Afghanistan. The engineer has been there for four months – it’s his second tour of duty.
“He went to the Philippines when I was in sixth grade for a year,” Lim said. “That was a long time ago. It was a big shock when we found out he was going to the Middle East. I thought he was too old to go there.”
Lim claims that being involved in so much at Case Western Reserve helps distract her from thinking about her father possibly being in harm’s way.
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday she gets up at 5:00 a.m. and heads to nearby John Carroll University for training and at 6:00 a.m. every Thursday she attends class there. Those ROTC responsibilities are in addition to her classes at Case Western Reserve and tennis practice.
“She wakes up every morning for ROTC, goes to class all day and still has so much energy to put into practice,” Coach Wojtkowski said. “She is an amazing example of the words focused, driven and responsible.”
“My life is a balancing act right now,” Lim said. “When I do have free time I like to nap to catch up with my sleep so I don’t get sick.”
Speaking of getting ill, a career in nursing could certainly aid that. But bed pans, urine samples and sponge baths hasn’t deterred this Girl Scout bronze, silver and gold metal honoree from the nursing field.
“Sometimes the tasks of a nurse can be trying, but you have to do them and just deal with it,” Lim explained. “I got over it in five seconds because this is what I’m going to do with the rest of my life.”
A bed pan sounds easy compared to what she did last week, which was roll around in the mud simulating attacking the enemy with rifle in hand.
ABOUT CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY … Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826 and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research, service, and experiential learning. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering, Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. http://www.case.edu.