Alumni Profiles

B.S., Sports Medicine and Health Science, 2004

M.S., Sport Health Science, Life University, Marietta, Ga., 2005

Health & Wellness Consultant

Knoxville, Tenn.

To watch a video with Nicole, click here.

Nicole played on the women's

basketball team at Guilford.

When we caught up with Nicole McCrory, she was finishing one exciting job and preparing to strike out on her own. After 2½ years at the Duke Health and Fitness Center, Nicole says: “It’s time for a new challenge. I thrive on challenges!” So she’s off to Tennessee to work as a consultant in the health care industry.

When she was in high school, Nicole was a highly recruited basketball player. “I visited other schools, including Elon and West Virginia University,” she says, “but a visit to the Guilford College campus sealed the deal. My teammates were just amazing. Everyone was so nice, so warm and welcoming.”

As soon as she enrolled at Guilford, Nicole was knee-deep in athletic training. “That’s the best thing about a small school,” she says, “you start right away. And the opportunities were endless — I worked with the football team, the lacrosse team, soccer teams, tennis, you name it. Almost every day. And, of course, I was playing on the basketball team, so it was like playing two sports … or more!”

Basketball and her teammates proved to be defining factors in Nicole’s development, she says. “I’ll never forget after we won the conference, we went on to the NCAA competition. In the first round, the stadium was absolutely PACKED. We won the game, and those packed stands just swarmed onto the court. The emotion was unforgettable. I’ll always cherish the memories of that team and my teammates. I mean, even these days, I’m still going to their weddings!”

She adds that Guilford College was always “a warm and comforting place” for her. “The Quaker tradition was wonderful,” she says with a big smile. “You learn to go with the flow, to be very open-minded, to enjoy life. The impression I always had of Guilford College was one of open arms, love to all.”

When her time at Guilford College was over, Nicole was focused on health care, but uncertain as to what the future would hold. She decided that graduate school was a good next step. “My advisor did everything to get me into grad school,” she says, “from writing letters of recommendation to making phone calls on my behalf. As a matter of fact, a bunch of Guilford people wrote recommendations and made phone calls.”

She chose Life University — a large chiropractic school with a small Sport Health Science department — because “It was appealing after Guilford College. At Guilford, you really get close to your professors. You go to their houses, you meet their children and grandchildren. I couldn’t see myself flourishing in a huge program after spending four years calling my professors by their first names.”

Graduate school was fine for Nicole, because, she says, “Guilford had given me excellent preparation. Not only had I done a lot of writing — for all my classes — but also I had learned how to do research for what I was writing. So that part of grad school was EASY for me, thanks to Guilford. And, of course, the massive hands-on athletic training experiences I had at Guilford proved to be great preparation for graduate school.”

She includes a trip to Denmark in her list of positive experiences. Her Guilford College basketball coach was also the director of a basketball camp in Denmark, and she took Nicole to work there during the summer following Nicole’s freshman year. “It was remarkable,” she says. “The kids, who were ages 8-15 and all spoke English, were terrific. I’ve always loved working with young people, and Denmark was fabulous.”

At Duke, Nicole has been serving as an exercise physiologist and lifestyle counselor at the Health and Fitness Center, where she devised personalized exercise prescriptions, group exercise instructions and various therapy regimes. Her work also included managing marketing activities and budgeting, which will serve her well in the next steps of her career.

“I have accepted an appointment with a marketing firm in Tennessee, where I’ll be promoting health and wellness for hospitals, fitness facilities, other health care organizations.” Her role will be to increase member participation at those facilities, developing incentives to get people to be more active in the fitness programs.

“I know I want to stay in health care. I want to use my skills in marketing, in wellness, in sports … and in health care in general. This move provides a perfect first step for my evolution into doing all of that on my own, as a consultant.”

She has these words for young people considering Guilford College as their undergraduate school: “If you want a family-type atmosphere — a place to be who you really are in a supportive atmosphere — then visit Guilford. You have to do the work, you must learn to manage your time, but the professors at Guilford are real people, and they all care about your success.”