Sophomore Becca Weissmark Sets Her Sights On A Career In Sports Medicine

Photo Courtesy Of Becca Weissmark

BY A.J. KURZMAN

The hardest thing for students coming out of high school is deciding what they want to do with their life.  Medicine is a popular field of exploration for these students.  It’s a broad category encompassing a seemingly endless array of well-paying jobs, but few people actually know what they’re getting in to.  For Cooper City High School sophomore Rebecca Weissmark; however, it was easy to decide what her future career would be in: sports medicine.

“My cousin in Chicago owns her own sports medicine practice,” Weissmark said.  “Every time I talk to her, she has such interesting stories and always impresses me with how smart she is.  I’ve known for a while that I want to do exactly what she does.”

Wanting to explore what she thought might be her true passion, Weissmark searched for a way to get hands-on experience.  That’s when, while attending a CCHS baseball game, she approached the athletic trainer Andy Zegoriah and asked if she could be his assistant in order to gain valuable experience in the field.  After Zegoriah agreed to let her shadow him, Weissmark began staying after school almost every day attending various practices for a variety of sports.  She’s responsible for filling up the coolers to keep players hydrated and has learned various medical techniques such as properly wrapping injuries with ice or taping fingers, toes, ankles, etc.  She has learned a lot about bones, what medicines work well in certain situations, and the world of sports in general.  As an inexperienced high schooler, however, she still has to take the back seat to Zegoriah in most situations, but she is not discouraged.

“This has definitely strengthened my desire to go in to sports medicine, because of my eagerness to go to college and learn so much more,” Weissmark said.  “I’ve seen what Andy does on a daily basis and I can’t wait to be more involved as I further my education.”

With her knowledge of how important it is to keep your body healthy, Weissmark goes to the gym twice a day and always has ESPN on her monitor to learn about sports.  She always tries to eat healthy and do whatever she can to work in athletic activities in her free time.

Weissmark isn’t all about sports, however, and is active in the community in other ways.  She is very involved in the B’nai B’irth Youth Organization (BBYO) at the local Jewish Community Center. It is a completely student-run organization that meets once a week.  After being a dedicated member for many years, she was given the position of Shlicha, which is responsible for educating the other girls in the chapter about Jewish history.  She keeps members connected to their religion by informing them of upcoming holidays, reading the Torah, and hosting monthly Shabbats at her house.

“I just recently hosted Life at my house, which is when the seniors share their favorite memories in their time in BBYO,” Weissmark said.  “Everyone across the region came and it was a great little ceremony.”

In addition to all this, Weissmark is still very involved in extra-curricular school activities.  She is Historian for the class of 2016 and a member of NHS.  Whenever she isn’t helping Zegoriah after school , she is volunteering her time to benefit her class or the school itself.

After she has completed high school, Weissmark plans to attend the University of Florida to partake in their sports medicine program, which is the best in the state.  If, however, that does not work out, the University of North Florida is her next choice because it’s sports medicine program is almost equally as note-worthy.

“After college I would love to be an athletic trainer for an NFL, MLB, or NBA team,” Weissmark said. “To do this, I plan on working hard and setting goals for myself.  I’m on the right path now so I plan on continuing what I do everyday.”