Green Wave swimmer plans to bring her passion for community to medicine

For Andrea Zeebe, being an athlete on the Green Wave Swimming and Diving team is inextricably linked to her success as a Tulane student.  

“Swimming has made me a better student,” said Zeebe, who is graduating with a degree in neuroscience from the School of Science and Engineering.  

Being a student-athlete required her to manage her time, maintain focus and represent herself and her teammates in front of groups of people - all skills that have helped her excel in academics.  

As a member of the swimming and diving team, Zeebe was on the Academics Committee from her sophomore to her senior year. The Academics Committee is one of four committees the team has, which function as student leadership and decision-making groups on issues such as team spirit and community service. As part of her role on the committee, Zeebe has served as a liaison between her fellow student-athletes and advisors and coaches, sharing concerns on topics that include preparing for finals, balancing meets with schoolwork and other challenges student-athletes may face.    

“I think that really showed me the value of being a part of something outside yourself,” she said.

Zeebe was also one of four swimming and diving student-athletes at Tulane named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Division I Swimming & Diving Team in 2026.  

When Zeebe is not studying or in the pool, she spends her time volunteering at Manning Children’s Hospital. She is part of Project Sunshine, an international nonprofit that brings play to hospitalized children.  

“I can go into the critical or intensive care units, because the kids can’t come out of them to go to the playroom,” she said. “I come with a little backpack with [another volunteer], and we hang out with them for 15 to 30 minutes. It’s awesome.”  

Whether they’re reading books, painting or just talking and keeping patients company, Zeebe and her fellow volunteers bring much-needed joy to children and their families.  

In the summer of 2025, Zeebe, who grew up in Hawaii, also participated in the Hawaii Pacific Health’s Summer Student Research Program. She worked with the state’s leading expert on pediatric concussions, Dr. Jennifer King, to analyze children and adolescents who were treated for concussion care and compared the number of treated cases to the number of concussions reported by local schools.  

“We were able to compare public school data to all the patients that were seen in her clinic over three years,” Zeebe said. She and her advisor then analyzed disparities in who sought specialty care.  

After graduating, Zeebe wants to continue working in medicine. She plans to attend medical school and become a physician, with the goal of bringing the expertise she gains back home to Hawaii.  

“[Being a physician] is very rigorous, but I think being a student-athlete and having to balance my time like that will set me up to be able to handle it,” she said. “Using my knowledge for the communities that I want to serve is why I think being a physician will be so fulfilling.”