World-Class University

Rachel Barrie ’03, M’04
Canada
Special Education Teacher

By Sarah Cook ’03

Canadian scholar-athlete Rachel Barrie ’03, M’04 says, “I couldn’t have asked for a better experience at SLU. St. Lawrence is a truly great place to be. It offers so many opportunities to its students—whether in the classroom or outside the classroom.”

Barrie took full advantage of both settings. Women’s Hockey Head Coach Paul Flanagan ’80, M’92 says, “Rachel is very bright, leads by example and has great time management skills. She’s blessed with a lot of athletic and academic ability and talent.”

An All-America goalie and tri-captain who helped carry the women’s hockey team to national prominence and whose name peppers the St. Law-rence record books, Barrie was elected to Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) on the strength of campus leadership and to Phi Beta Kappa on the strength of her academic performance. In just four years, she earned not only her B.S. in psychology but also her M.Ed. in counseling and human development. She worked for two consecutive summers as a research assistant for Assistant Professor Joseph Erlichman in the biology department, and did an honors project with Associate Professor of Psychology James Wallace on “The effects of safety equipment on the relationship between risk perception and risk

tolerance in children.”

As if she weren’t busy enough, Barrie was also involved in community service. She explains, “During my sophomore year, I organized a program for Big Brothers/Big Sisters where the ‘littles’ and their Big Brother or Big Sister could come to three of the women’s hockey home games. This program was part of the NCAA Leadership Conference that I had attended in the spring of my freshman year. Besides watching our game and meeting the team, the children received a gift bag of goodies donated by local businesses and St. Lawrence’s dining services.” She also volunteered in Potsdam with the Banana Splits Program, a counseling support group that works with children coping with divorce, and did an independent study with the BOCES Adaptive Swim Program.

After completing her St. Lawrence education, Barrie moved to Boston and worked at the New England Center for Children, a school for children with autism. When offered a position to work as a therapist for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Preschool Autism Program, she accepted and moved back to Ottawa, the area where much of her family resides; Barrie grew up in Arnprior, Ont.

Barrie says, “I will always remember, and be grateful for, the experience that the St. Lawrence community gave me.” Not only did Barrie take advantage of the opportunities that the University could provide but it’s clear that she gave back to the community through her prolific involvement in academics, athletics, research and community projects.

An intern in the University communications office in her senior year, Sarah Cook is a graduate student in English at SUNY Potsdam and a writing tutor at SUNY Canton.