KELLY PRAK OF RHODES COLLEGE, a senior field hockey player from Raleigh, N.C., has been selected the SCAC Character & Community Female Student-Athlete-of-the-Week for the week ending September 19, 2010.

Between the demands and time commitments of being a Division III student-athlete, it is hard to fathom where one would find time to contribute within the community. However, Prak, a senior Religious Studies major and Psychology minor and four-year member of the field hockey team, has dedicated countless hours reaching out to others and trying to better the world in which we live. 

Her Christian faith is at the heart of her desire to love and serve people on campus, in Memphis, and around the world. She is active in her local church both at home and in Memphis, serving as a Bible school leader, nursery volunteer, and a leader of service weeks at camp.

On campus, Prak has been involved with Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) for the past four years, being a member of the worship team and leading small group Bible studies. She has been active with a variety of tutoring programs, including Life Support (tutoring first year religious studies students); Our Children, Our Future; and volunteering in a special education classroom in a local middle school.

In addition to tutoring, Prak has loved engaging the city of Memphis in many ways. She has spent time volunteering at St. Peter’s Villa Rehabilitation and Retirement Center and serving a nearby inner-city neighborhood, both through volunteering with children and doing multiple weeks of home repair ministry over the past three years. She has also enjoyed being able to use her athleticism as a means of raising money for medical causes through events such as Race for the Cure and the St. Jude half marathon.

Outside of Memphis, Prak has been seeking more opportunities to engage other places, within the country, including a week of home repair ministry in New Orleans, and abroad. In high school, the desire to aid those in need around the world led her to become involved with Heifer International, which she has continued being involved with throughout her college career. Most recently, Prak spent the summer working with Campus Crusade for Christ in Mamelodi township in South Africa giving secondary students the encouragement and tools they need in order to have the opportunity to receive a higher education.

Her experience in South Africa really inspired Prak with understanding of the importance of education to an individual’s ability to improve their life, to gain the skills necessary to be able to take advantage of opportunities around them. Because of the combination of coming to understand this issue of social injustice and her heart for the city of Memphis, Prak is applying for the Memphis Teacher Residency, a program for training up urban educators that would commit her to at least four years in a Memphis city school as she is trained and teaching. She also hopes to go overseas again, whether through teaching or a different form of service, she’s not sure yet. With all of the unknowns and questions that come with senior year, the one thing she’s sure of is that her future after school will be centered on trying to affect the world for good, loving the people and serving them well.