Byrne-Cody Loving the
Univ. of Rochester
She's 400 miles from home, but Laurelle Byrne-Cody is loving life at the University of Rochester where she is a college freshman. The Huntington High School Class of 2012 member is majoring in economics at the upstate school and hopes to gain acceptance into U of R's five-year MBA program in its Simon School of Business.
"College is going great," Ms. Byrne-Cody said earlier this week during a long-distance interview. The teenager made Rochester's varsity softball team as a walk-on and has been very busy juggling her academic and athletic responsibilities.
The softball squad engages in weight training at 7 a.m. three days per week and holds regular practices and workouts. "I'm happy to say I started in leftfield in both of our fall games at Binghamton last month," said Ms. Byrne-Cody, who wears uniform No. 10 for the Yellow Jackets.
The 5'2 college freshman was a three-time Huntington softball team captain, earning All-County and MVP honors as a senior. Ms. Byrne-Cody also lettered in basketball and volleyball for the Blue Devils.
The Huntington grad is enrolled in basic economics, comparative politics, the role of alcohol in American history and calculus this fall. "I also have a job on campus working in the [Robert B. Goergen] Athletic Center as a building manager," Ms. Byrne-Cody said.
The well-spoken and personable teenager said she did not have any previous connection to the Rochester area, but her father almost went to U of R before concluding it was too expensive. "So my grandparents forced him to go to Binghamton," Ms. Byrne-Cody said. "I always disregarded this story until I didn't get into my top choice and was faced with a difficult decision to pick a school. After visiting Rochester I was truly impressed. The campus was beautiful, I could play softball and its economics and political science programs are both among the
best in the world. Since getting on campus I've realized that I made the right decision."
The University of Rochester is widely regarded as one of the top research universities in the United States. The campus boasts 158 buildings and more than 200 academic majors. The college has an enrollment of more than 9,300 full-time and part-time undergraduate and graduate students.
"U of R is absolutely beautiful and it has allowed me to get involved in many of the things I was looking forward to when I thought about college just last year," Ms. Byrne-Cody said. "I do miss Huntington very much though! Huntington High School certainly helped me out. The teachers at Huntington forced me to manage my time well and be very diligent and that is paying off greatly, especially with my busy schedule. I look forward to coming back and thanking
Huntington High School's great faculty."