Cathedral Catholic’s very own Ms. Melissa Padgett received an award from her alma mater this past fall. Located in Reno, Nevada, Reno High School was home to her for four years.

“I had a lot of school spirit in my high school, so it was just a cool way to just get further entrenched into the tradition of my school,” she said.

The award placed her in the Reno High School Athletic Hall of Fame for her athletic excellence. There were seven inducted for 2013, three men who graduated in the 1950s, two men in the 1970s, and Ms. Padgett and her teammate.

“That Friday night, we went to the football game, and they introduced us at halftime, and we walked out onto midfield. On Saturday, there was a nice dinner, and we each picked someone to introduce us. I chose my dad, and it was really just a nice night. And it was cool to meet guys from the 50s, and a couple were war veterans as well,” she said.

In her high school career, Ms. Padgett lettered four years in basketball and two years in track. She grew up in a major basketball family with her grandfather, dad, uncle and brother all having played Division I basketball in college. Her grandfather and brother also coached college basketball at Cal Berkeley, UCSB, and IUPUI.

After she graduated high school, Ms. Padgett received a full ride to play basketball at the University of San Diego. She decided in her sophomore year that she wanted to earn a teaching and history credential. To pay for it, Ms. Padgett spent a fifth year at USD as a graduate assistant coach.

She soon learned of an opening for a coaching position at Cathedral, and she immediately seized the opportunity.

“My friend told me ‘There’s an opening if you want to take it,’ and I was like sold! Best high school in San Diego!” she said.

Ms. Padgett coached the JV girl’s basketball team from 2005 to 2006 and then the Varsity girl’s basketball team from 2006 to 2007, and 2009 to 2010.

She next planned to get her masters degree in education. However, this required her to set coaching aside.

She said, “It was sort of an accelerated program, so I didn’t have enough time to coach, get to school, and teach, so I wanted to get my masters sooner rather than later.”

And her hard work paid off. Ms. Padgett earned a masters of education in curriculum degree and instruction in technology degree. Now, she is a dominant force in education at Cathedral, though she still misses coaching.

She said she’s developed great relationships with her students in the classroom, but it’s definitely unique when you have those relationships on a team as well. Naturally, those relationships are one thing that she misses the most from coaching.

Though she ended her coaching career for now, Ms. Padgett acts as an even bigger influence on campus. She is Department Chair head of Social Science, leads the Mock Trial team, and acts as the Senior Class moderator.

“I’ve kinda just started to embrace the academic and educational side of the job. And when I was coaching, I was blood, sweat, and tears, into it. But now I just kind of want more balance. It’d be hard to do all the things I want because I always go all in or not,” she said.

Among the many things Ms. Padgett is thankful for are the many opportunities she has been able to partake in at Cathedral. This helped to make her presence felt even more as she involves herself in many aspects on campus.

“I think what I’m proud of is that I’m not just a coach who reaches; I really like to be a teacher as well, one who is involved with all aspects of the school – I’ve coached, I’ve been a part of senior class events, and I’ve done all different teams and organizations,” she said.

Although she was recognized for her athleticism this last September, Ms. Padgett made sure not to limit herself to just coaching, and also ensured that her students wouldn’t limit themselves either.

She said, “I don’t think kids should just limit themselves to ‘Oh I’m a football player, or oh I’m an AP kid.’ Why not try to be awesome and enjoy everything?”

And now, she is an inspiration to students who may want to take more than one path not only in their high school career, but onward.