Q&A Andrea Jaeger
SI: You shouldknow this is SI's first Q&A with a nun.
Jaeger: Oh, myGod [laughs]. I think I was first in SI when I was 13. Hearing that soundsstrange, doesn't it? You usually don't put SI and nun together.
SI: You'dprobably top any list of athletes turned nuns.
Jaeger: Well,there are some saints out there [laughs]. Andre Agassi is doing saints'work.
SI: You've alwaysbeen a humanitarian—for the last 16 years you've been working for yourfoundation for sick children. But what prompted you to become a nun?
Jaeger: I havealways had a personal relationship with God, even as a child. Last year I justhad this calling. I received an associate's degree in theology several yearsago and had been dealing with kids for many years. I had a dream that was verydefinitive: O.K., I'm supposed to be a Dominican nun. This is what God iscalling me to do.
SI: Can youmarry?
Jaeger: No. Ihave to be celibate. If you come in single, you have to be single. These arestrict things.
SI: You retiredat 19 after seven shoulder surgeries. Do you ever think about how your careercould have turned out if you had stayed healthy?
Jaeger: I thinkGod wanted to help me with things other than being Number 1 in the world. But Iknew that at 14. I didn't tell anyone because how many people wanted to hearthat? Sponsors didn't. Management groups didn't. When I was injured, I askedGod, "I think I've learned everything I'm supposed to learn here. Can we goand help these children now?" I would have never left on my own, because ofsponsors and my family. Then my shoulder popped at the French when I was 19,and I was at total peace.
For more fromAndrea Jaeger, go to SI.com/scorecard.
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STEVE POWELL/GETTY IMAGES (JAEGER PLAYING)