Senior Spotlight: Brooke Boyd

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April 18, 2016

Growing up in the Baltimore area it was common for kids to start playing lacrosse at a young age. Following in their older sister’s footsteps, the Boyd twins picked up their first lacrosse stick at age five and have been playing together ever since.

“Our older sister played lacrosse, she’s three years older than us, and we always looked up to her so when she started playing so we wanted to as well,” senior Brooke Boyd said. “It was always my older sister, Kelly, my dad and I out in the yard playing.”

Wanting to continue to play together once it was time to look for a college, Brooke recalled the day she and sister Kelly came down to Charlottesville to visit Virginia.

“We had scheduled a bunch of schools we were going to visit and UVA was the first one. Right after we came here we cancelled all of the other visits and called on the way home in the car,” Boyd said with a laugh. “We called Julie (Myers) and Colleen (Shearer) and said we want to come to UVA without giving it anymore thought. They were like ‘don’t decide on the spot, go home and think about it.’ We got in the car and were probably two miles down Route 29 when we called. We definitely knew right when we got here that we wanted to come here. My dad went to UVA actually. He was comfortable with the area and showed us all around and knew all of the cool places to show us to. I just love the college and the combination of the academics and the awesome sports, not just lacrosse but all of the top sports. It was a really easy decision.”

During her four years at Virginia it hasn’t been the easiest process for Boyd, having to deal with several injuries that limited her playing time on the field, including missing the latter part of her third year.

“I had to have hip surgery last year,” Boyd said. “I tore a ligament in my hip last spring. So that was really hard to get over not being able to play as much as I would like to.”

Boyd didn’t focus on the challenges she had to go through, rather she took advantage by getting involved with different activities off the field.

“I’m involved in SAAC, which is Student Athlete Advisory Committee, and then ACE which I’ve really loved and involves volunteering at the local public schools,” Boyd said. “I’ve done it every semester since second semester first year. It’s a program through athletics where they place you in a school around the Charlottesville area. It’s really cool because you can stay with the same class and continue visiting them as they get older. My third year into this year I was with the same class the whole time and they got to know me so well. It was really fun. I would go once a week and they would tackle me when I walked in the door. It makes a big impact and I’ve really liked doing it a lot.”

Along with volunteering, Boyd has performed well in the classroom being named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll all three years. This past summer she spent time interning with a company back home that she hopes will translate into a job after graduating with a degree in economics in May.

“I was working in commercial real estate back home in Baltimore,” Boyd said. “I helped them do market research on the local Baltimore real estate market. Working in the industrial sector was cool because we would go visit warehouses all of the time, those were the properties they were interested in, and I knew nothing about that before. I learned a ton and that was a really interesting experience. I want to continue doing commercial real estate and maybe even work for the company I did last summer.”

Now that her fourth year is winding down, Boyd reflected on what it has meant to be able to play lacrosse at Virginia and spend the last four years with her twin sister Kelly.

“Playing at UVA, especially with my twin sister has meant the world to me,” Boyd said. “I’ve had the best experience. Academically and athletically I feel like I’ve maximized every opportunity and have had the best time. I cant imagine having gone anywhere else and will have these memories forever. When people say it’s the best four years of your life I believe them now and it’s been awesome. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. It goes by really fast.”

“I want to thank my parents for all of the opportunities they gave me growing up,” Boyd added. “They always got me to all of my tournaments. My mom and my dad would drive us all around town and a lot of times it entailed driving hours and hours to different states. They were so supportive always. Also I want to thank Kelly for being by my side and going through this with me. I couldn’t thank her enough for all she’s done for me. Also my older sister has always been so supportive. All of my friends I have here have been so supportive, even if I haven’t gotten as many opportunities to play they have been supportive and I wouldn’t still be here if I didn’t love it and love everyone I was with. I’ve had the best experience possible.”

“I would also like to thank our athletic trainer Blair (Moore),” Boyd said with a grin. “Blair’s the best. She’s helped me so much. I’ve probably been going to treatment now for three years for different injuries. She’s helped me so with anything that can make me feel a little better when I’m struggling with injuries.”