Rachel danced for the Royal Academy of Dance for twelve years, earning her Elementary Level with distinction in 1999. After an injury to her ankle, Rachel was forced to give up dance and turned to sports. She played at the highest level of competitive female hockey as a goalie for the Leaside Wildcats in Toronto. At seventeen she won the of superhero Black Canary/Dinah Lance in the WB series Birds of Prey. After the show was canceled, she moved home from Los Angles to graduate high school and pursue an undergraduate degree. After graduating from Earl Haig Secondary School and being named an Ontario Scholar she was accepted into Queen's University. There she completed a double major in English Literature and Classical History. After graduation, she backpacked around Western Europe for four months with friends.