Field hockey star now giving others legal advice
John Remus III
This is the third installment in a 10-part series about CMU athletes and their lives after college.
The first thing Laura Page (Farrell) asked in 1988 when being recruited by CMU to play field hockey was how cold it was in Michigan.
A Virginia native, Page thought cold meant 40 degrees, and after that question coach Cristy Freese thought she wasn’t going to commit.
But Page got used to the snow, and finished her career as one of the best field hockey players in CMU history.
“It was really cold, but I thought the snow was kind of cool,” Page said. “I remember one October when they had to shovel snow off the field for a game and I thought to myself ‘what was I doing here?’”
Her decision turned out to be a good one as she helped the team win its first ever Mid-American Conference title in 1990.
Page ranks in the top 10 in career assists with 18 and points with 66. She earned first team All-MAC honors three consecutive years (1989-1991).
“The first weekend she came up here for recruiting purposes we had a blizzard and I thought there was no way she was coming here,” Freese said.
Page graduated in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration focusing on marketing with a minor in journalism.
She then went on to law school at Campbell University in North Carolina.
“I got a job as a criminal defense attorney soon afterward. I was interested in protecting people’s rights,” Page said.
Page draws from her journalism courses to help prepare herself for the courtroom, and said the two aren’t much different.
“My background in journalism has been a big help,” Page said. “If I’m telling or selling my story to a judge or jury it’s not much different from presenting your story as a journalist.”
But raising a family was too time consuming to allow Page to be a trial lawyer.
She now works as a corporate lawyer for United Tile Company in Raleigh, N.C., giving advice on legal issues concerning property.
“The time management skill I learned as an athlete has helped me juggle being a mom, wife, soccer coach, school volunteer and a lawyer,” she said.
One of the things Page misses most about her playing days is the friendships she developed.
“She was a naturally talented and very humble athlete,” Freese said. “People gravitated toward her and looked up to her and she showed the way academically and athletically for many.”
