Anthropology major sophomore Ariel Samoohy is a student athlete for the Men’s Soccer team. He discussed the run-down of this past year’s soccer season, and the lessons he learned both on and off the field (Leila Sassouni / knights’ life editor).
“Coming into this season as a sophomore, there was a lot of new obstacles that I had to face [compared to] last year. I was looked up to as a leader because there were few upperclassmen on the team and 13 freshmen coming in; there were a lot of new faces and new personalities that had to get meshed into one system. So, for preseason, my role was to help the freshmen transition into college, transition into being a better person on and off the field; it’s not just soccer and the team. It’s being a better person in the community, in the classroom. When it’s time to get ready for business on the field, you have to really turn the switch [because there are] outside factors that can mess up how you’re going to play … Maybe you got a bad grade, or [maybe you just had] a bad day. But when it’s time to play soccer you really got to focus on what coach says and listen to him, and work hard for the full session. A lesson I learned is that it’s a very long season. Mistakes happen and you just got to roll with them and learn from them quickly and move on; the next day is a new challenge. You need to wake up with the right mindset and go after it every day, with the most positive mindset you could have.”