Tulane beach volleyball player finds passion for medicine

Samantha Green came to Tulane to play beach volleyball and study biology. She accomplished both with flying colors. 

Green arrived at Tulane via Long Island, New York, where it was difficult to practice her sport in the cold winter months. 

“I knew I would have to go somewhere south to be able to continue to play beach volleyball,” she said. 

When she visited Tulane, she fell in love immediately. 

“I could totally see myself being a student here, even so much that I would have loved to go here even if I couldn’t play sports,” Green said. “Obviously, sports are not everything, and at the end of the day, you want to get an education in a place that you truly love and you feel welcomed and accepted at,” she said. 

But sports did work out, big time, and Green served as a captain on the beach volleyball team for two years. She and her volleyball partner also set a new program record for most wins in a single season. 

She also excelled off the court and will graduate this month with a degree in cell and molecular biology and a minor in Spanish. 

“I really have a love for science,” she said. “I love when there’s a right and wrong answer.” 

She also joined the Diabetes Discovery Lab in the School of Medicine and began studying pancreatic islets, which are parts of the pancreas that produce insulin.   

“It’s been really cool to work alongside the researchers in the lab, because they’re doing a whole bunch of other projects in the realm of diabetes,” she said.

This experience ignited a new desire in Green who plans to take a year off after graduation and then apply to medical schools in the next cycle. She hopes to one day work in a clinical setting. 

“I love interacting with people and building connections,” she said. “That’s something that I’ve really been able to explore and discover about myself here at Tulane.”

Over the past few years, she has volunteered at multiple children’s hospitals, including Manning Family Children’s. She also volunteered with Son of a Saint, a local organization that supports boys growing up without fathers. 

“It was really impactful for me,” she said. “I lost my dad when I was 14, so I really related to the population I was working with.”

Volunteering helped her get involved in the New Orleans community beyond Tulane. 

“We Tulane students live in one of the coolest cities in the world, so I think being able to take advantage of the things around us is such a great opportunity,” she said.