Q&a Andrea Jaeger

SI: You should know this is SI's first Q&A with a nun.

Jaeger: Oh, my God [laughs]. I think I was first in SI when I was 13. Hearing that sounds strange, doesn't it? You usually don't put SI and nun together.

SI: You'd probably 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 always been a humanitarian—for the last 16 years you've been working for your foundation for sick children. But what prompted you to become a nun?

Jaeger: I have always had a personal relationship with God, even as a child. Last year I just had this calling. I received an associate's degree in theology several years ago and had been dealing with kids for many years. I had a dream that was very definitive: O.K., I'm supposed to be a Dominican nun. This is what God is calling me to do.

SI: Can you marry?

Jaeger: No. I have to be celibate. If you come in single, you have to be single. These are strict things.

SI: You retired at 19 after seven shoulder surgeries. Do you ever think about how your career could have turned out if you had stayed healthy?

Jaeger: I think God wanted to help me with things other than being Number 1 in the world. But I knew that at 14. I didn't tell anyone because how many people wanted to hear that? Sponsors didn't. Management groups didn't. When I was injured, I asked God, "I think I've learned everything I'm supposed to learn here. Can we go and help these children now?" I would have never left on my own, because of sponsors and my family. Then my shoulder popped at the French when I was 19, and I was at total peace.