This week’s Campus Celebrity is freshman field hockey and softball player, Olivia Barksdale! Olivia is an Environmental Engineering major from Fort Washington, Maryland.
How do you like Clark so far?I like it a lot! It’s about the same-size as my high school. I’ve gotten to know Worcester a little better the past few weeks which has been pretty cool. The roughest part though is just being so far away from home. I didn’t realize how far it actually is from here. Theoretically it’s supposed to be about a six hour drive, but with traffic it takes more around eight hours.
What has the transition been like from playing high school field hockey to being a starter on the Clark team?Definitely getting adjusted to playing thirty-five minute halves instead of thirty minute ones! It’s hard too when we go into overtime. I love knowing that there’s still more game to play, but it’s so tiring!
You got the game-winning goal against one of Clark’s biggest rivals, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), on Tuesday which was huge. How did it feel to score that goal?After I scored the goal I was so excited because we had been waiting for it to happen all game long. It was one of those moments where I just felt like saying “Finally, we’re ahead!”. We still had to keep playing to keep the lead but it was so great knowing that we had it back. We all were playing so well and it was an amazing game to win.
You’re also on the softball team. Are you excited for that, too?I am! I met the team on Sunday. I hadn’t really had the chance to yet because I’m in season for field hockey right now. We went out for a team dinner at Wright’s Chicken Farm though and it was delicious. There was so much food, we got a ton of chicken and fries. The ice cream was really good, too; it was in the shape of a chicken. Everyone is really nice, I’m excited to start playing!
What’s your least favorite and favorite thing about Clark?Well aside from being far away from home, I guess I’d say my least favorite thing is that Worcester can be a little bit rough at times. My favorite thing is definitely all the people and how close everyone is. The professors are all really nice and helpful which has helped with the transition from high school to college as well. I also love my team! It was great coming in and immediately having a group of people to connect with and show me around!
Thanks Olivia!