Receives Kimball Award for lettered athlete with highest GPA
Laura Heaton, a communication disorders student and junior mid-fielder on Brigham Young University’s women’s soccer team, recently received the Kimball Memorial Award, a yearly honor given to a BYU student athlete who has lettered in a sport and has the highest cumulative GPA among other contenders.
Heaton is proud of her award and the 3.96 GPA that earned her the accolade. “My schooling is why I came to BYU, so I was honored that [the BYU Athletic Department] acknowledged the hard work I put into academics,” she said.
Family played a part in Heaton’s decision to major in communication disorders. Her 6-year-old brother has Down syndrome and is also speech-delayed, which means he is just barely beginning to speak in sentences.
Heaton said she attended a few speech therapy sessions with her brother and realized the great changes that can result from a caring therapist. The sessions with her brother gave Heaton the desire to have a career of her own in speech therapy.
After she graduates in April 2007, she plans to attend graduate school. Then, she hopes to use her skills to help children in a school setting. Heaton stressed she will continue to apply the same work ethic that won her the Kimball Memorial Award. “I think it’s important to work your hardest at whatever you do,” she said. “That’s my motto.”
For more information, contact Roxanna Johnson at (801) 422-1922.
Writer: Roxanna Johnson
