Senior Doria Holbrook flies skyward as she practices diving at the Zesiger Center. Holbrook, a mechanical engineering major, was a top high school pole-vaulter, but foot problems led her to choose diving instead when she arrived at MIT. Her new athletic career rekindled her competitive nature, she says. "Even though everyone had been telling me that I would never be a collegiate diver, I didn't really have a choice. I had to do it anyways." Now, four years into a rigorous training regimen ("no whining," she says), she has set herself a soaring goal: to qualify for the Olympic trials in June. Follow her story as she blogs about her experiences at scripts.mit.edu/~newsoffice/stringers/. Photo / Donna Coveney

A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on January 30, 2008 (download PDF).