Alexa Rothenbuescher Is Always Welcoming Challenges
Shane Connuck, umterps.com Contributing Writer
1/25/2023
Alexa Rothenbuescher has always had a drive to work hard. Whether she’s on the mats or in the classroom, the Maryland gymnastics junior is always welcoming challenges.
On top of competing for the GymTerps, Rothenbuescher is also a pre-Physician’s Assistant and an executive board member of the Pre-Health Terps club.
“From a young age, I’ve always had an interest in medicine,” Rothenbuescher said. “What’s mostly gotten me here is my interest in the challenge that medicine has. And being a gymnast, I’m always striving to be perfect — trying to score a 10.0, I’ve always had that drive.”
The Fairfax, Virginia, native was a star gymnast growing up — she was a three-time Junior Olympic National Qualifier and a regional champion in 2018. Rothenbuescher also maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout her time at W.T. Woodson High School.
Coming out of Northern Virginia in 2020, Rothenbuescher knew she wanted to continue her gymnastics career at a school with strong academics. And she looked no further than the local state school nestled in the DMV.
“I chose this school because it’s great in academics,” Rothenbuescher said. “They have tons of resources — whether you’re an athlete or not — for going into the health field. There are a lot of organizations; Maryland Made here has been amazing. They’re always providing opportunities for us to get volunteer hours, clinical hours, and always posting what we can do to better ourselves for career readiness. And even if you’re not a student-athlete, you’ll still get these benefits.”
While this picture wasn’t as clear when Rothenbuescher first arrived on campus in 2020 amid the pandemic, it was after one Zoom meeting with the Pre-Health Terps club.
The fall 2020 semester was rough for everyone — students had to be spread apart as the COVID-19 pandemic forced classes to be held online. Rothenbuescher had seen the Pre-Health Terps on social media, and the new Maryland student knew it was something in which she was interested.
One of her teammates put her in touch with someone from the organization, and Rothenbuescher joined its beginning-of-the-year Zoom meeting. And from there, the pre-health freshman knew she was in good hands.
“They did everything they could do for us through Zoom,” Rothenbuescher said. “They brought in people from other professions on Zoom, helped us with what classes to take — no one really knew how to adjust to taking classes online.”
Now a junior, Rothenbuescher serves as the Director of Recruitment and Engagement for Pre-Health Terps. She helps bring new members to the club as they foster a community that shares a common interest on campus. While pre-health does require students to take a lot of classes that could be challenging, this welcoming community that Rothenbuescher now helps lead has helped her get through them.
As busy as a pre-health major would be with their classes and other obligations, Rothenbuescher is also a Division I gymnast for the Terrapins. She’s particularly impressed with how supportive her coaching staff — led by head coach Brett Nelligan — is of her and her teammates’ academic interests.
“The coaches are very understanding of your commitment toward school. We all say that school comes first. School, gymnastics, and then everything else,” Rothenbuescher said. “They understand if we have to miss practice because we have a certain class that we need to attend — they’re very supportive.”
