The Defender
Brooke Merchant
Senior, Thomas S. Wootton High School
When the subject is soccer, Brooke Merchant can’t hide her competitive streak.
“I love fighting for the ball,” the Thomas S. Wootton senior says. “I’m so determined to get it first. I love…trying to beat the other team.”
The North Potomac teen applies that same go-getting spirit to all her pursuits, whether singing with the children’s chorus of the Washington National Opera; performing with Chaos, one of her school’s a cappella groups; or excelling in biology and chemistry classes.
“I’ve never been a slacker,” the 17-year-old says. “I’m always trying to get everything done on time. …I wish I could do everything!”
Last September, that desire to “do everything” appeared to be seriously threatened. During an annual physical for soccer tryouts, she learned she had dysgerminoma, a rare form of ovarian cancer that mostly strikes teenagers.
Before her mind went to darker thoughts, Brooke arrived at a devastating conclusion: “This would mean the end of soccer.”
That she would first consider what her diagnosis meant for the sport and the teammates she loves speaks to Brooke’s nature. This is a girl, teachers say, who always has a smile on her face and never fails to ask teachers on Mondays about their weekends.
“You wish you had about 30 [students like her] in your class,” says Tracey Seek, Brooke’s soccer coach and math teacher.
Brooke started soccer at 9, an age when most girls already had been playing for five years. She quickly caught up with her peers, becoming captain of Wootton’s junior varsity team and a defensive leader for the varsity squad.
“She found her niche with the soccer team,” says school counselor Alicia Braun. “She made a ton of friends. That team became like a family to her.”
Brooke has spent part of this academic year taking classes at home through the school’s Home and Hospital Program. Chemotherapy, she says, has been tough but bearable. Brooke’s mother, Charo, marvels at her fortitude: “I’m really blessed she’s like that.”
Brooke will graduate with her friends in the spring and go to college in the fall, most likely somewhere close to home. A lover of science, she’s considering a career in oncology, given recent events.
“After facing this challenge, I really think I’ll be able to do anything,” she says. “After this is over, there are more things to come, especially happy things.”
