Wheelchair tennis pro inspires Life

Wheelchair tennis pro, Karin Korb, inspired Life University students and staff during her recent student assembly keynote address. Korb's address was held at 11 am in room C127 at Life University. Korb, injured in a gymnastics vaulting accident, picked up her first tennis racket 12 years ago and is now ranked second in the United States by the US Tennis Association and number 15 worldwide by the International Tennis Federation.

In her speech titled, "A Disabled Diva Speaks: Inspiration, Excellence and Expecting the Best," Korb shared her compelling story and how to focus on possibilities, rather than excuses.

"Whatever your gifts are, take them to the next level," she said while dramatically gesturing to the crowd with her hands. "We all have the same 24 hours in a day, the same ability to think, ask questions and the same ability to expose ourselves to other people and ideas. Inspiration is about being open to new possibilities."

Playing on a word coined to reinforce her life's theme, Korb continued, "I believe that a successful life is living 100 percent‑ly inspired. It is time to be inspired by life, by other people and by ourselves."

Since a gymnastics accident at the age of 17 left her without the use of her legs, Korb has been highly committed to training her body and mind, and believes strongly in living her life by the theme, "live to train, train to live."

Korb's dedication to this principle has enabled her to compete on seven USA World Teams and receive the 2004 USTA Southern Section's Wheelchair Tennis player of the year award. She also won the National Physique Committee's first‑ever women's wheelchair bodybuilding competition.

Korb received a bachelor's in political science from Kean University and most recently her master's at Georgia State University in sports management. There she was the first female with a disability to receive a Division I athletic scholarship to play collegiate wheelchair tennis, the first ever team at an NCAA school. As a result, there are currently 11 universities with similar programs.

Korb holds a vice‑chairman position on the USTA National Committee and is a member of the Georgia Tennis Foundation Board of Directors. She works with the GoGirlGo Atlanta project (a program of the Women's Sports Foundation) and continues to assist the USTA with media, publicity and public relations activities. The two‑time Paralympian (2000 Sydney, Australia and 2004 Athens, Greece) is currently featured in the book "Superwomen: 100 Women ‑ 100 Sports," by Jodi Buren.

Life students and faculty embraced Korb following her presentation, in an expression of appreciation for her words of inspiration. Her positive outlook, smile and desire were genuinely contagious as participants left the assembly reenergized having caught a glimpse of life's challenges and rewards from a unique person who has overcome and achieved great success.

"When I first heard about 'wheelchair tennis' I was skeptical until I saw the wheelchair athletes compete," commented Dr. Drew Rubin, faculty member at Life University. "Ms. Korb embodies inspiration in motion. I believed our students would greatly benefit from hearing Ms. Korb's message and invited her to our campus. She did just what I had hoped she would do...she inspired us to achieve more."

After the crowd had dispersed, and with a happy smile on her face, Korb said to herself, "I am so lucky."

This event is not the first time Korb has collaborated with Life University. She was a participant in the 2004 Atlanta Wheelchair Tennis Masters Series presented by Life and hosted by the Georgia Tennis Foundation. She currently resides in Smyrna, Ga., and is the program development manager at BlazeSports, a national community‑based sports program offering year round training and competition for youth and adults with physical disability.