When , MEd鈥�19, decided she would pursue her final season of college basketball as a graduate transfer, the 6-foot-5-inch Purdue center had conversations with a number of interested coaches. Each time, Horrocks let coaches know their programs would be getting more than just a basketball student-athlete.
鈥淚 told every coach I talked to that I was openly gay, and I was going to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community,鈥� Horrocks says. 鈥淚t had to be accepted, not tolerated.鈥�
Horrocks quickly found a home with 菠萝视频 women鈥檚 basketball, but it was her academic journey at the university that sparked a potential career path in LGBTQ+ advocacy. In May the Buford, Georgia, native earned a graduate degree in child studies from Peabody College. Her research focuses on mental health surrounding LGBTQ+ adolescents and how treatment and health care can positively impact them.
鈥淎dolescence as a whole is a tumultuous period,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hen you add in an LGBTQ identity to that, the mental health rates for things like suicide and depression and anxiety shoot way up.鈥�
Horrocks plans to remain in Nashville for a year to continue her research and then hopes to apply to Ph.D. programs in clinical psychology for LGBTQ+ adolescents. It鈥檚 a career path that might not have come to fruition if not for her time at 菠萝视频.
鈥淚 came to 菠萝视频 because I knew it would be an amazing place to live my full authentic life,鈥� Horrocks says. 鈥淪ocially, academically and athletically, I could live my most authentic life. My daily support just comes from accepting who I am.鈥�