UBC hurdler overcomes barriers
Injuries fail to keep student from dreams on and off track
In the name of science, Katherine Tourigny was more than willing to go to bottom of the world.
And when she got there, UBC’s third-year behavioural neuroscience major thought to herself, at a moment where levity met gravity: “If I was standing on a globe, I would be completely upside down.”
Three years ago, when she delivered her high school valedictory speech to her fellow students in West Point Grey Academy’s graduating class of 2012, she spoke about journeys, just like the one she found herself on.
“Today is our day,” she told her fellow grads at the Chan Centre. “Today is the day we move from our nursery into a big world, no doubt having had the best preparation possible.”
And so it was that on New Year’s Eve in 2013, Tourigny found herself on the deck of a vessel crossing the Drake Passage, from Argentinian waters into the Antarctic Convergence, ready to ring the bottom of the world as part of a research team studying the potential effects of the world’s changing ecosystem on humanity.
“There were 24 hours of sunlight, but we arrived at Elephant Island in fog,” Tourigny recalls of the mountainous, ice-covered island off the continent’s coast, her seasickness now well behind her.
“It was unreal. Like it came out of the clouds. Penguins and icebergs.”
Today, as we conclude Head of the Class Spirit Week, we are continuing to visit with special student-athletes across the province at both the university and high school levels who best represent the ideals of athletics, academics and the quest to make a difference through their actions.
Tourigny, a 2012 HOC valedictorian, is just such a person.
As a two-time B.C. high school champion in the 400-metre hurdles, she not only came back this season from a devastating knee injury that robbed her of her first two seasons of university competition with the Thunderbirds, but she also qualified for the recent NAIA championships in her specialty event, finishing fifth nationally.
And in the classroom, where she has nurtured her passion for the brain and all its inner workings through her behavioural neuroscience major, a new branch of fascination has now emerged, one which encompasses the study of our Earth and its oceans, and how changes to our environment will impact human health in the future.
In the three years since she donned cap and gown, flipped her tassel and helped send her fellow Grey Wolves into the big world, Tourigny has worked in neuroscience research labs, done clinical studies at B.C. Children’s Hospital, done outreach in the form of mentorships with elementary-aged students, and not only travelled to Antarctica, but also to Peru for a United Nations climate change conference.
In and around all of that, she not only worked on her undergraduate thesis — using neuroimaging to study the effects that diabetes has on neuroplasticity in stroke patients — but also made an amazing comeback on the track, battling through two years of rust and rehabilitation to achieve some stunning results.
In the lead-up to the national championships, having barely run the hurdles for the two previous seasons, Tourigny entered a meet in Seattle and posted a personal-best time of 1:00.86.
“Having to mentally deal with the uncertainty of my injury for two years was so draining,” she admits of the pain in her left knee, which remains undiagnosed despite numerous MRIs, bone scans, X-rays and medical opinions.
“But sometimes you just don’t know the answers. You just have to acknowledge that things happen.”
Which brings us back to the closing moments of that heartfelt speech she delivered at her high school graduation three Junes ago.
“I challenge you,” she concluded. “Don’t succumb to being just a number. Stand out. Be proud of where you came from, stay in touch, and enjoy showing the world how talented and extraordinary you are.”
It’s a message B.C.’s entire graduating high school class of 2015 should take to heart. Throw yourselves headfirst into the fray. Chase the dream that will put you upsidedown at the bottom of the world.