Rockhurst is final choice for top O’Hara grads

There are hundreds of college choices for high school seniors. There are more than 100 four-year schools in Missouri and Kansas alone. So it is rare when the top three graduating seniors in one high school class all choose to attend the same university.

But that has happened at Archbishop O’Hara High School in Kansas City, Mo. Its top three graduates – all with GPAs above 4.0 – are enrolling at Rockhurst University in the fall.

Carson Burns, 18, Erin Lynch, 17, and Allison Seck, 18, are all interested in studying healthcare disciplines at Rockhurst. They mentioned similar reasons for choosing Rockhurst – its academic programs, location and Catholic tradition.

Both Seck and Lynch will be in the pre-physical therapy program at Rockhurst. They each said they chose to pursue that career because of personal experiences in rehabilitation.

"I injured my hip running track sophomore year and had to attend physical therapy for six weeks," Seck said. "Observing the physical therapist got me interested. I thought it was really cool, how they helped athletes get back to their sport."

When Lynch was seven years old, she had a spinal tumor. As part of her treatment, she worked with a physical therapist for a prolonged period of time. Although she is fully recovered now, she said she is "looking to pay it forward."

Burns will study nursing at Rockhurst.

"Ever since I was little, I’ve always thought I wanted to be something that has to do with medicine," she said. "I think that nurses are more personal with the patients, with a nurse you can build a relationship. I thought that I would be better at that."

The three O’Hara graduates are good friends – they all played softball together – and are looking forward to tackling college together.

"I’m really excited to be going to Rockhurst with them," Lynch said. "Obviously academics are important to all three of us, so I think we will keep each other on track with all that."

Among other things, the women are also looking to get involved with many student activities at Rockhurst, including intramural sports, the school newspaper and Greek Life.