Spectrum: What was your initial reaction to seeing you got chosen?
MS: Definitely surprised me because I was an alternate, I wasn’t on the initial list. And I did not think I was going to be on the initial list. And so I was in disbelief, and super duper excited, because it was a huge opportunity that I didn’t think I was gonna have a chance to do.
Spectrum: What was a moment that stuck out to you from your experience?
MS: I think just initially seeing the field, like just showing up for the first time and seeing all of the other girls gathered. And just thinking wow, I was able to get myself here like this is insane.
Spectrum: What was it like leading up to your first game?
MS: I was so scared that I was not going to be able to measure up. And I just had to keep reminding myself that I was there for a reason. Like somebody had thought that I had the potential to compete and that I deserve to be there.
Spectrum: When did you decide to take your field hockey career more seriously and what led you to do so?
MS: It was right around when I started playing field hockey for the first time I kind of discovered the sport and I was like this is it, this is the sport for me. I could see myself doing this in 10 years, I can see myself doing this professionally, I can see myself doing this in college like all of those major life moments I wanted field hockey to be a part of, and like that was kind of when I realized like this is this is something that’s serious that I need to take this seriously.
Spectrum: How long have you been playing field hockey?
MS: I’ve been playing field hockey for a year and a half.
Spectrum: What was the hardest part of your experience?
MS: I think the hardest part of my experience was just the mental battle of like, do I deserve to be here? Like, why? Why would somebody pick me versus all of these other kids because it was coming from, like such a large pool of girls. And it was just like, the disbelief and that there’s no way that they picked me, this has got to be an accident, like there’s no way that I was supposed to be here. Just proving to myself that I deserve to go and I deserve to be there and I had the skill and game sense to be there.
Spectrum: What inspired you to take on this new challenge?
MS: I think just pushing myself mentally and physically. Field hockey is like one of my greatest passions. And so being able to do this at such a high level with a bunch of girls who care about it just as much as I do was super important to me.
Spectrum: Where do you see yourself in the future with field hockey?
MS: I would like to go as far in field hockey as I can go. So whether that means I end up playing in college or playing professionally. I would love any of that. I really want to make the junior national team at some point. That’s kind of been a lifelong dream of mine. So obviously not possible this year but hoping for hopefully in the future and hopefully before the Olympics in Los Angeles.
