WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS. -- Leah Bush '19 has never been afraid of a challenge. Whether it's walking on to the tennis team her freshman year to become one of the best players in the NESCAC, or changing her entire career path to land at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, she has a relentless ability to adapt and succeed.
Bush was honored as a recipient of the prestigious NCAA postgraduate scholarship. Each year, the NCAA awards up to 126 of these postgraduate scholarships to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically. Across all three divisions, 21 scholarships of $10,000 are available for spring-season female athletes to use in a postgraduate program. "It's a tremendous honor," commented Bush. "I've gotten a lot from college tennis. I feel so humbled to receive more from what has already been a great four years playing and a year coaching. I just hope I can keep giving back."
In high school, Leah Bush couldn't have imagined that her tennis career would go so far. Leah's portfolio in high school was insufficient for Williams Head Coach Alison Swain to support her application as a recruit. Rather than being disheartened by this, Bush was motivated. "The fact that whatever [Alison] saw in me wasn't meeting the standard she set for the team was so appealing to me. She had this vision for what her team was, and I thought that maybe if I worked hard enough, I could fit into that," Bush recalled.
Bush's work ethic and commitment to the team transformed her from a freshman walk-on to the top player for Williams by her senior year. In her first semester at WIlliams, she was at the #7 spot for singles without playing time, but she ranked #25 in Division III for doubles with partner Julia Cancio '18. By the spring semester of her freshman year, she locked the #6 spot and earned playing time for singles. She shot up to the #1 and #2 line up positions in her sophomore year, ranking #8 in singles in the ITA fall rankings and #18 in Division III in singles at the end of the spring season. For these accomplishments, she earned All-American honors in singles and the Simon Most Improved Player Award as a sophomore. In her senior year, she played #1 singles and #1 doubles for Williams, led the Ephs in match wins (10), ranked #3 in the NESCAC for singles, and again earned ITA All-American honors. With her doubles partner Chloe Henderson '20, she made it to the semi finals for doubles at the Fall ITA Tournament, and in the spring she made it to the First Round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. Bush's remarkable progress throughout her collegiate career did not go unrecognized; in her senior year she won the NCAA Division III Most Improved Senior award, a testament to both her hard work and the quality of coaching by Head Coaches Alison Swain and Anik Cepeda.
Leah Bush loved her time as an Eph, and particularly enjoyed the team dynamic. "When the team comes together and it's time to compete, we find another level of intensity, fire, and love of the battle. Getting a taste of that was a catalyst for the rest of my career," Bush commented. A standout memory of hers was winning the 2017 Division III NCAA Championship as a team in her sophomore year. The Ephs were down 4-1 against Middlebury in the semifinals, but they fought their way back to advance to the finals, and then to win the tournament. "In that situation, I had absolute trust in my teammate Linda Shin," Bush said. "She fought back and won her match. In turn, the other teammates still on court won their matches, giving us the opportunity to play in the finals. Each one of us felt the urgency to take full advantage of that opportunity. Getting to be part of that was incredibly special."
After graduating from Williams in 2019 as an economics major, Bush had the opportunity to work as an economics research assistant at Yale. However, she turned that position down in order to pursue a career in tennis coaching. "[Economics research] would have been the safe thing to do, but being at Williams helped me feel very comfortable in not taking the safe route," Bush explained. "I wasn't sure if tennis coaching was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, but regardless I felt incredibly grateful for the collegiate tennis experience I had at Williams. I wanted to give back to other student athletes in the ways that my coaches had given to me."
In the summer of 2019, Bush completed an internship in professional coaching with the United States Tennis Association (USTA), where she worked with the US National Tennis Team. She then took on an assistant coaching position for the women's tennis team at Whitman College. She enjoyed coaching the sport she loves and she felt that her Williams background enabled her to better cultivate a team environment.
However, her coaching experience came to an abrupt halt with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Bush nevertheless made the most of the lockdown and decided to work in contact tracing, at first because of an altruistic desire to help end the pandemic and return to coaching sooner. Eventually, she realized that a medical profession could be what she wanted. "Contact tracing showed me that a career in medicine could combine the academic rigor I enjoyed in economics with the one-on-one and team relations that I found meaningful as a tennis coach," Bush recalled.
Enlightened with the idea that she wanted to go to medical school, Leah enrolled in the postbaccalaureate premedical program at Bryn Mawr College to complete the prerequisite coursework. After some time from Williams, she came to enjoy being back in the classroom. "It was a chance to enjoy being a student all over again," said Bush. "It's really a privilege to sit down and learn all day, and to do so with great people." She then spent a year working as a research assistant at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. "I enjoyed working with Dr. Malha and Dr. August as we studied hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, but like a good liberal arts student, I'm starting medical school with an open mind about what field of medicine I want to practice."
Now, Leah Bush is in her first year at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. She feels that her time at Williams has prepared her to excel in medical school. "I have a better idea now of how to study, how to interact with adults, and how to leverage resources," said Bush. "I'm working hard, and if Williams taught me anything, I'll do now what I did then: make mistakes, work hard, and support and be supported by the people around me. That's all I can do." Additionally, she has found parallels between her studies at medical school and her lessons learned from Williams Tennis: "medicine is a team sport, and like all team sports it comes with its glamorous moments and its challenges," she illustrated. "Like a tennis match, medicine is not defined by the problems, but by the reactions and solutions to them."
When asked about advice for a current Williams student, Leah Bush offered two wisdoms that may seem contradictory, but that she believes aren't. "Be absolutely true to yourself and firm in what you believe, while keeping an open mind. Know what you want, know who you are, and persist in that pursuit without imposing that on whatever life has to throw at you."
