But Rainey's path as a climber is not always uphill. She says she falls often and that the sport takes a lot of hard work and dedication.
After her sophomore year, Rainey decided climbing had taken "too much commitment and mental strain." She says she stopped climbing for three months because she felt she needed time to focus on school.
But she wasn't able to stay away from climbing. Continuing her commitment to the sport, she kept climbing at least twice a week while writing her senior thesis in history. She says climbing gives her something to look forward to.
Once her thesis was handed in she started climbing up to four days a week. She gets up at 5:30 most mornings to run three miles.
She also works as a classroom assistant and physical education teacher at a school for mentally disturbed children in Needham. She works with a class of nine children, ranging in age from 11 to 13.
Although she is enjoying her job now, Rainey says she hopes to attend graduate school in psychology within the next couple of years.
She says she is eager to move out West to study because of the opportunities for climbing. "It is definitely like a religion," she says.
Citing a desire to help others, Rainey says she will not limit her life to climbing alone. "Climbing doesn't really do anybody any good except me," Rainey says.
Instead she has focused on a vision of using climbing to help other people.
After taking the children she has worked with this year rock climbing, Rainey says she realized the sport builds self-esteem. "All their problems were forgotten," she says.
Ultimately, she would like to coordinate climbing workshops to help female victims of abuse build positive self-images, push their personal limits and foster supportive relationships with each other.
She says she thinks climbing has the potential to help people feel better about themselves. "I know it changed me," she says. "I was a very different person before I started rock climbing."
Changing the World, One Person at a Time
Sarah A. Schmidt '96, doesn't know anyone who has is HIV-positive. But that is about to change.
Schmidt will spend next year in Hoboken, N.J. volunteering as a case manager for HIV-positive individuals without health insurance.
The history and science concentrator will advise clients on the tests they will need and the steps they can take to keep themselves as healthy as possible.
As a sophomore, Schmidt used her Fuller Grant to study the role the media plays in the portrayal of AIDS. She says she believes the Hoboken job is a good opportunity to learn about the disease and the people touched by it.
"I am really excited about it because it is a chance to get some real experience helping people," Schmidt says. "In some capacity I am going to be able to make a difference in some person's life."