Sports

'The Surfer' Mostly Sputters And Flails

According to Hollywood, a surfer can be one of three things: a weed-smoking, wave-chasing airhead (Jeff Spicoli); a crunchy, woo-woo hippie (some of the penguins in the startlingly charming Surf’s Up); or an edgy, degenerate type, whose passion for adrenaline is paired with a generally violent demeanor (Patrick Swayze’s Bodhi in Point Break). The truth, […]

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1 week ago

May 8, 2025

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According to Hollywood, a surfer can be one of three things: a weed-smoking, wave-chasing airhead (Jeff Spicoli); a crunchy, woo-woo hippie (some of the penguins in the startlingly charming Surf’s Up); or an edgy, degenerate type, whose passion for adrenaline is paired with a generally violent demeanor (Patrick Swayze’s Bodhi in Point Break). The truth, as ever, is somewhere in between—you can expect even the gentlest of “soul-surfers” to hiss and fight over their home break.

What, then, can we make of the unnamed protagonist (played by Nicholas Cage) in Lorcan Finnegan’s latest feature, The Surfer, beaten and humiliated in his quest to surf the Edenic waves of Luna Bay, the Australian beach where he grew up? Having been born there doesn’t grant him status as a local: “Don’t live here, don’t surf here,” goes the tag-line spat at him by the local crew. In the days leading up to Christmas, the surfer drives to the Bay to show his son the house where he grew up, which he is on the verge of buying back, if only he can outbid a competitive buyer. The surfer has long neglected his family, and a return to the wholesomeness of the beach—the beautiful surfing, the house perched on the cliff, the memory of an idyllic childhood—might help rebuild the relationships that have been sacrificed at the altar of his career.

Over the grueling 100 minutes that ensue, the surfer goes through a series of increasingly elaborate traps, pranks, and mindfucks orchestrated by the locals which will cause him to get bitten by a rat, walk on shards of glass, drink impotable water, contemplate murder, lose his watch, phone, and car, and pretty much go insane. “Localism is part of the culture,” an unhelpful cop tells the surfer. “It keeps undesirables out of the neighborhood.”

Localism is what surfers call the rule of etiquette that dictates the way a visitor should carry themselves in foreign waters: respectfully, almost bashfully. It’s a mindset I know well. I grew up spending weekends on a quiet beach 70 miles outside São Paulo, where my dad is one of the long-established locals. Once, walking to the beach, we crossed paths with a young man whom, my dad told me with some amusement, he’d recently kicked out of the water. I was shocked. My dad eats flax seeds. He’s almost disturbingly contemplative. He has habits like walking barefoot on grass first thing in the morning, to “ground” himself. He never raises his voice, though his I’m disappointed look is earth-shattering. I shuddered to think of it in the water, as he unleashed it on this kid, like he didn’t want to do this but had been left with no choice.

Like most surfers, my dad hasn’t always worked the door, as it were; he’s also been confronted, most memorably by a fuming Hawaiian local who refused to shake his hand. Along with screenwriter Thomas Martin, Finnegan stretches the stereotype of the aggressive surfer into caricature. Led by one Scott “Scally” Callahan, played gamely by Julian McMahon, the Bay Boys, as they are called, form a locals-only cult, or militia, tasked with guarding the break against intruders. The idea is that this task, along with other rituals that involve branding and taking hallucinogens, will provide the men with an outlet through which to “let out a little steam.” Scally, who is like the lunatic lovechild of Joe Rogan and Andrew Huberman, believes that modern men need a way to get in touch with the animalistic impulses that have been stifled by the tyranny of emasculation. Disciples alternate between two selves: responsible, dutiful family men and violent, base freaks. The transition between selves is painful, and for Scally, that’s the point: “You must suffer to surf,” he admonishes, repeatedly.

Finnegan had his work cut out for him when he cast, in the starring role, Nicolas Cage, America’s doyen of humiliation. Over the last couple of decades, Cage’s confused legacy—are we laughing at him, or with him?—has provided younger directors with a perfect marionette of an actor, a doll to be sadistically battered and swung around. The draw of films like 2022’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent or, to some extent, 2023’s Dream Scenario, is not necessarily Nic Cage the actor, but Nic Cage the meme.

At one point, when the surfer is on the near edge of losing his mind, the locals and members of the larger Luna Bay community literally point and laugh at him, inviting the audience to join in. The surfer isn’t a character, or even a man; he is a vehicle for Nicolas Cage to be reduced to desperate pantomime. That’s the film’s main gimmick. The other is that, over the course of four nights, the surfer never leaves the beach parking lot, though for the majority of that time he has, at his disposal, a perfectly functioning Lexus with a full tank of gas and working air conditioning.

The Surfer’s best insight is that localism, whatever it might mean to any particular surfer or community, can be a tool with which to wield power. The beach is public—that’s the first argument the surfer tries on the locals—but by relying on the unwritten rules of the sport, the Bay Boys can demarcate their region and govern it, however psychotically. Their members are already powerful in modern society’s most legible ways: they are white, rich, and conventionally attractive. They are the kind of guys so used to getting what they want that they feel entitled to the ocean. To dig into that psyche and expose the connections between a retrograde vision of masculinity and a sense of entitlement to land, to the water, and to nature, would be a fresh way to present the issue of localism, even more by rooting the story in a country with a fraught history of colonization.

But by locking Cage in the parking lot, The Surfer extricates localism from identification with the landscape. Besides establishing, in a cartoonish way, that we’re in Australia (a humongous country), the specifics of Luna Bay are never explored. It could be a beach anywhere. It exists in a vacuum divorced from the context that would clarify why the Bay Boys are so determined to guard it; or, for that matter, why the surfer longs to return. It’s not entirely hard to understand, for example, why a Hawaiian local might take issue with my dad or any foreigner whose surfing trip is inextricable from a long history of colonization and exploitation. In Catherine Hardwick’s 2005 film Lords of Dogtown, the boys who guard the abandoned, rotting Pacific Park Pier in Venice Beach are so destitute that control over the break is the only sliver of power, however illusory, that they have.

I know: it’s not that deep! It’s supposed to be a farce! That much is clear; the film is obviously more committed to punishing Nicolas Cage for the viewer’s pleasure than to engaging meaningfully with any of the interesting ideas at which it gestures. In title if not in theme, The Surfer seems to be distantly referencing Frank and Eleanor Perry’s 1968 adaptation of John Cheever’s story The Swimmer, a sincere movie if there ever was one. The protagonist of that movie, Ned Merrill, is humiliated because the life he had, which he failed to nurture, is lost to him, and everyone knows. The surfer is humiliated because, lacking other options, he considers biting into a dead rat. The water fountain from which he hopes to get water is soiled with dog shit. He cries wah wah wah. In the thick of being gaslighted by the locals, he reminds himself: “I have a car. I have a job. I have a name. I have a son.” It’s all the film can do to convince us that here we have a character, but we never even learn his name.

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Two women’s track and field records fall on first day at regional meet

Story Links WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The Hamilton College Continentals set two women’s team records in the 2025 All-Atlantic Region Track & Field Conference Outdoor Championships at Williams College’s Lee Track at Williamson Field on Wednesday, May 14. Dana Schwartz ’26 continued to improve her own record in the […]

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12 minutes ago

May 15, 2025

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The Hamilton College Continentals set two women’s team records in the 2025 All-Atlantic Region Track & Field Conference Outdoor Championships at Williams College’s Lee Track at Williamson Field on Wednesday, May 14.

Dana Schwartz ’26 continued to improve her own record in the javelin throw and finished in second place out of 30 athletes with a distance of 40.73 meters. Schwartz’s performance is currently ranked 24^th in NCAA Division III.

Olivia Waruch ’28, Claire Tratnyek ’26, Mia O’Neill ’28 and Marley Meyers ’28 led the 4×400-meter relay to third place and a team-record time of 3:55.07 that shattered the previous record by more than four seconds.

Personal records were posted by Tatiana McCray ’28 (100 meters), Lily Murphy ’27 (third, 10,000 meters) and Sylvie Najarian ’25 (fourth, steeplechase). Keira Rogan ’28 tied Schwartz for the best finish of the day with a runner-up showing in the 5,000-meter run.

Hamilton has athletes in the 800- and 1,500-meter run, the 4×800-meter relay and the triple jump on the second and final day of the championships on Thursday, May 15. The Continentals were in second place in the team standings with 33 points after the opening day. University of Rochester led the way with 36 points.

HAMILTON PERFORMANCES

4×100-meter relay prelims (15 teams)

10. Olivia Waruch ’28, Tatiana McCray ’28, Marley Meyers ’28, Michelle Wu ’25 (48.77)

4×400-meter relay (15 teams)

3. Waruch, Claire Tratnyek ’26, Mia O’Neill ’28, Meyers (3:55.07, SR)

100-meter dash prelims (21 runners)

19. McCray, 12.57 (PR)

5,000-meter run (27 runners)

2. Keira Rogan ’28, 17:13.38

21. Claire Pfanstiel ’27, 18:58.63

10,000-meter run (24 runners)

3. Lily Murphy ’27, 38:14.26 (PR)

3,000-meter steeplechase (23 runners)

4. Sylvie Najarian ’25, 11:03.76 (PR)

Javelin throw (30 throwers)

2. Dana Schwartz ’26, 40.73 meters (133 feet, 7 inches; SR)

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Sports

CIF girls beach volleyball: Eastlake sand queens dig it!

The young ladies of Eastlake High School made history by winning the San Diego Section Division II beach volleyball championship. Courtesy photo Girls indoor volleyball has its own season in the fall while boys indoor volleyball shares the spring season with girls beach volleyball. The latter sport is now in its fourth years of existence, […]

Published

18 minutes ago

May 15, 2025

Your Sports Nation

web.CIF_BeachChamp — The young ladies of Eastlake High School made history by winning the San Diego Section Division II beach volleyball championship. Courtesy photo

Girls indoor volleyball has its own season in the fall while boys indoor volleyball shares the spring season with girls beach volleyball. The latter sport is now in its fourth years of existence, though many have yet to see an actual game due to off-campus competition venues.

That should be changing in the near future after Eastlake High School put a focus on the emerging sport after capturing the San Diego Section Division II championship last weekend at San Diego Mesa College.

“To be able to bring a CIF championship back to Eastlake is not only a great achievement but we also wanted to prove that the South Bay can complete,” EHS coach Lizbeth Lau said. “Kudos to my seniors, who is leaving a big legacy behind — two CIF championship, indoor and beach — because they are setting the expectation and standard while helping me build a culture where we will continue to work hard and hold each other accountable to get the result we deserve.”

This year’s CIF tournament included three divisions — Open Division (four teams, double-elimination), Division I (12 teams, single-elimination) and Division II (16 teams, single-elimination) — in four competition rounds from May 1-10.

The competition format includes three pairs on each team. There are five rotations with the object to win three rounds to clinch a victory, though all five rounds are played.
Each pair must win two (of three) sets to win a round.

Top-seeded Eastlake defeated 16th-seeded Sage Creek, 3-2, in the first round before eliminating ninth-seeded Coronado, 4-1, in the second round. The Lady Titans swept fourth-seeded Francis Parker, 5-0, in the semifinals at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center, Eastlake’s home venue.

Taking center stage in the section finals, the Lady Titans defeated seventh-seeded Canyon Crest Academy by a score of 4-1.

Top players/pairs on this year’s EHS team included seniors Elizabeth Heath and Leila Reynante, seniors Nichole Corona and Kenidee Wax and freshman Presley Ruperto and junior Kaycee Papa.

Others shared in the spotlight.

Alyssandra Macias and Brooke Hidalgo opened the day with a 21-14, 21-10 win in straight sets while Wax and Noelle Barcas advanced the lead to 2-0 with a 22-24, 22-20, 15-13 win.

Ruperto and Papa made it 3-1 with a 21-17, 21-17 straight sets win while Mellissa Wagenka and Daniella Garcia won 23-21, 16-21, 16-14 to wrap up the match.

Canyon Crest Academy took down second-seeded Rancho Bernardo, 3-2, in the third round.

In other CIF finals, top-seeded Cathedral Catholic edged third-seeded Torrey Pines, 3-2, to claim the Open Division title as well as its fourth consecutive division championship as undisputed queens of the sand court, while top-seeded San Marcos swept second-seeded Carlsbad 5-0.

Among Metro Conference teams:

Otay Ranch received the No. 11 seed in the Division I bracket and bowed out with a 4-1 loss to sixth-seeded La Jolla in South Mission Beach.

Bonita Vista received the No. 5 seed in the Division II bracket and eliminated 12th-seeded Steele Canyon, 4-1, in the first round at the CV Elite Athlete Training Center before tasting defeat (3-2) against Francis Parker in the second round.

Sixth-seeded Olympian lost 3-2 to 11th-seeded Patrick Henry while 14th-seeded Mar Vista ended its season with a 5-0 loss to third-seeded Clairemont.

Helix and Steele Canyon competed as members of the Metro Conference this season. Francis Parker defeated 13th-seeded Helix, 3-2, in the first round in Ocean Beach.

Stadium modernization projects are ongoing at Castle Park, Mar Vista and Chula Vista high schools. Sand courts are being installed at all three sites to further facilitate the sport locally.

Fall back
Eastlake finished the 2024-25 fall schedule with a final 29-12 record as undefeated Metro-Mesa League champions and Division I section indoor champions with a 3-0 sweep over Rancho Bernardo. The Lady Titans advanced four rounds in the Division II regionals playoffs to reach the regional final against Bakersfield Centennial.

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Women’s track and field has 17 recognized in MIAC Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Awards

Story Links MIAC Release 2025 MIAC Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Awards BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Seventeen members of the St. Olaf College women’s track and field team were honored for their performances at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Outdoor […]

Published

29 minutes ago

May 15, 2025

Your Sports Nation

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Seventeen members of the St. Olaf College women’s track and field team were honored for their performances at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the 2025 MIAC Track & Field Awards, as announced on Thursday.

St. Olaf’s 17 honorees included eight individual All-MIAC (places 1-3) performances, two All-MIAC relays, and seven Honorable Mention All-MIAC (places 4-6) performances, as the Oles finished fourth in the team standings last week. St. Olaf won five events at the meet, marking the highest total for the program since 1999-00.

Senior Alison Bode won both the 5,000-meter run and 10,000-meter run, while junior Isabel Wyatt won the 800-meter run, and senior Sophie Abernethy won the 1,500-meter run. Abernethy was also part of St. Olaf’s first-place 4×800-meter relay, along with sophomore Siri Erickson, senior Jules Fromm, and junior Ella Landis.

Below is a complete list of St. Olaf’s honorees in the 2025 MIAC Track & Field Awards.

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Sports

Cheap Wax Wednesday Box Breaks

2019 Topps Heritage Minors Baseball is a throwback to the 1970 Topps design, just like the major league release. The base set has 225 cards with the last 25 being short printed. Just like the MLB release, it also includes image variations and missing name short prints. Each base card is also available in five […]

Published

41 minutes ago

May 15, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The major difference between the minor league and major league products is the guarantee of an autograph. While autos are tough pulls in MLB Heritage, they appear in every box of Heritage Minors. Looking at the autograph checklist now, there isn’t a ton of star power on it, unfortunately.

2019 Topps Heritage Minors Baseball Box Break

Cards per pack: 8
Packs per box: 18
Price paid: $57

Shop for 2019 Topps Heritage Minors Baseball boxes on eBay.

Box topper:

Nathaniel Lowe 1970 Topps Super

Pack 1 highlights:

Cal Raleigh & Sixto Sanchez

Remember when they were talking about Sanchez like a young Pedro Martinez? Unfortunately, he has dealt with injuries, and has yet to throw a pitch this season as well.

Pack 2:

Heliot Ramos High Number SP (1:6 packs) & Nate Pearson

Pack 3:

Tyler Freeman, Daulton Varsho, Dustin May & Triston Casas Fresh on the Scene (1 in every 5 packs)

Speaking of injuries, the Red Sox just lost Casas for the remainder of the season with a knee injury.

Pack 4:

Cristian Javier, Clarke Schmidt & Julio Pablo Martinez Fresh on the Scene (1:5 packs)

Pack 5:

Yordan Alvarez & Make Your Pro Debut entry card

The winner of this contest would receive the following experience: become a member of the Rocket City Trash Pandas for one game, meet the team, have an assigned locker in the locker room along with a full uniform, participate in pregame warmups including taking batting practice, and have a card in a 2020 minor league product.

Pack 6:

Blaze Alexander & Ronaldo Hernandez 1970 Mint Coin Relic /99 (1:197 packs)

Pack 7:

Casey Mize, Ronny Mauricio, Oneil Cruz & Trevor Larnach Fresh on the Scene (1:5 packs)

Mize seems to be coming into his own this season, posting a 2.53 ERA through his first seven starts.

Pack 8:

Tim Tebow, Parker Meadows, Brendan Rodgers & Nick Gordon High Number SP (1:6 packs)

Pack 9:

Austin Riley & Logan Gilbert

Gilbert made his first All-Star appearance last season and finished sixth in AL Cy Young voting.

Pack 10:

Brusdar Graterol, Brent Rooker, Matthew Liberatore, Jazz Chisholm & Andrew Knizner Fantastic Feats (1:6 packs)

Pack 11:

Royce Lewis, Dylan Cease & Luis Robert

Cease has turned himself into one of the more dependable starters in the league. A far cry from his 2019 major league debut, when he posted a 5.79 ERA over 14 starts.

Pack 12:

Sean Murphy, Royce Lewis, Edward Cabrera & Luis Robert Fantastic Feats (1:6 packs)

Pack 13:

Jo Adell, Brujan/Boswell/Bichette, Isaac Paredes & Casey Mize Fresh on the Scene (1:5 packs)

Adell was ranked the #3 overall prospect by Baseball America prior to the 2020 season but has not been able to put it together in the majors.

Pack 14:

Matthew Liberatore, Grayson Rodriguez & Bryan Mata Fantastic Feats (1:6 packs)

Pack 15:

Jo Adell & Alex Kirilloff

Kirilloff retired from professional baseball in October after dealing with multiple injuries in his young career.

Pack 16:

Julio Rodriguez, Jarred Kelenic & Lazaro Armenteros Blue /99 (1:25 packs)

Pack 17:

Buddy Reed High Number SP (1:6 packs)

Michael “Buddy” Reed played eight minor league seasons as an outfielder without much success. He has recently started an attempt to pitch professionally.

Pack 18:

MJ Melendez, Brandon Marsh & Rylan Bannon Autograph (1:26 packs)

Lastly, the Marsh card back. Love these old-school style card backs, especially the minor league ones showing the multiple stops along the way.

This went as expected, with unfortunately a low-name autograph. The highlight of the box, aside from adding minor league cards of some current major league studs, was the 1970 Mint Coin relic. Those are tough pulls.

Shop for 2019 Topps Heritage Minors Baseball cards on:

Want more installments of Shane Salmonson’s Cheap Wax Wednesday? Check out his other breaks in the archives.

Sports

Track & Field Set for MVC Outdoor Championships in Carbondale

PEORIA, Ill. — Bradley Track and Field will travel to Carbondale, Ill., to compete in the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships from Saturday, May 17, to Sunday, May 18, 2025. BRADLEY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Time-Event-Athlete(s) Saturday, May 17 8:00 a.m.: Men’s 10000m – […]

Published

53 minutes ago

May 15, 2025

Your Sports Nation

PEORIA, Ill. — Bradley Track and Field will travel to Carbondale, Ill., to compete in the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships from Saturday, May 17, to Sunday, May 18, 2025.

BRADLEY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Time-Event-Athlete(s)
Saturday, May 17 8:00 a.m.: Men’s 10000m – Caden Simone, Caleb Lind, Oliver Burns 8:45 a.m.: Women’s 10000m – Sophia Cino, Skyler Balzer 2:30 p.m.: Men’s 1500m Prelims – Zachary Balzer, Travis Gaffney, Jack Crull, Jaxson Copelin 2:55 p.m.: Women’s 1500m Prelims – Trixie Wraith, Ciara Thornley, Kaitlyn Sheppard, Eimear McCarroll, Abigail Hancock 4:05 p.m.: Men’s 400m Prelims – Brayson Barth, Isaac Lind 4:20 p.m.: Women’s 400m Prelims – Hope Rajlich, Carolina Martinez, Amiyah Davis 4:55 p.m.: Women’s 100m Prelims – Olivia Redpath 5:10 p.m.: Men’s 800m Prelims – Jamie Phillips, Kaden Kingsmith, Jack Crull, Jaxson Copelin, Matthew Burnett 5:30 p.m.: Men’s Long Jump – Bryndon Wallace 5:35 p.m.: Women’s 800m Prelims – Trixie Wraith, Eimear McCarroll, Abigail Hancock, Andriana Erotocritou, Eilen Brenne 6:05 p.m.: Women’s 400m Hurdles Prelims – Julia de Palma Mendiguchia 6:15 p.m.: Men’s 3000m Steeplechase – Brandon Kamp 6:35 p.m.: Women’s 3000m Steeplechase – Rhune Vanroose
Sunday, May 18 1:35 p.m.: Men’s 1500 Final 1:45 p.m.: Women’s 1500m Final 2:25 p.m.: Men’s 400m Final 2:35 p.m.: Women’s 400m Final 2:50 p.m.: Women’s 100m Final 2:55 p.m.: Men’s 800m Final 3:00 p.m.: Women’s 800m Final 3:25 p.m.: Women’s 400m Hurdles Final 3:50 p.m.: Men’s 5000m – Jayde Rosslee, Ian O’Laughlin, Parker Nold, Caleb Lind, Travis Gaffney 4:15 p.m.: Women’s 5000m – Ciara Thornley, Kaitlyn Sheppard, Nadia Potgieter, Sonja Inzinger, Carissa Hamilton 4:55 p.m.: Men’s 4x400m Relay 5:10 p.m.: Women’s 4x400m Relay

MVC OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Where: Lee Hartzog Track and Field Complex – Carbondale, Ill.
When: Saturday, May 17 – Sunday, May 18, 2025
Live Timing: Link to come
Live Video: Saturday | Sunday

RECAPPING THE 2024 MVC OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Braves brought home four MVC individual championships at the 2024 MVC Outdoor Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. Julia Nielsen brought home a pair of conference titles, winning the women’s 800m and 1500m within roughly one hour of each other. Nielsen’s performances garnered the Most Outstanding Female Track Athlete honor. Jack Crull won the men’s 1500m title to complete a 1500m sweep for the Braves. Eli Rieker capped off his senstational collegiate sprinting career with a men’s 200m title.

LAST TIME OUT

The Braves broke two program records as they competed in Arizona’s Desert Heat Classic and the Gary Wieneke Memorial. At the Desert Heat Classic, Amiyah Davis broke the program record in the women’s 400m with her time of 54.24, and Carolina Martinez finished right behind her to set the second fastest time in school history with a 55.18 finish. Jamie Phillips ran a 1:48.17 to set a new program record in the men’s 800m, and Abigail Hancock and Eilen Brenne set the fifth and seventh-fastest times in the women’s 800m.

In Urbana-Champaign, Hope Rajlich set the 10th-fastest time in program history in the women’s 400m, while Eimear McCarroll took home gold in the women’s 1500m with her time of 4:27.57.

COMING UP…

The top performers from the MVC Championships and throughout the season that qualify for NCAA national events will run at the NCAA West Preliminaries in College Station, Texas, on May 28-31.

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‘The class challenged me to build a more intentional future’

Kimberly Bond Statistics & PsychologySan Diego, Calif. What was your favorite class and why? My favorite and most impactful class was The Psychology of Wisdom with Professor Robert Sternberg. It pushed me to think beyond academics and reflect on my values, priorities and long-term goals. We talked about the kind of intelligence that really matters […]

Published

1 hour ago

May 15, 2025

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Kimberly Bond

Statistics & Psychology
San Diego, Calif.

What was your favorite class and why?

person sitting outside

My favorite and most impactful class was The Psychology of Wisdom with Professor Robert Sternberg. It pushed me to think beyond academics and reflect on my values, priorities and long-term goals. We talked about the kind of intelligence that really matters in life, not just grades, but how to make thoughtful, ethical decisions. This class challenged me to slow down, consider multiple perspectives and build a more intentional future.

What is your main extracurricular activity and why is it important to you?

My main extracurricular activity is Cornell Women’s Club Water Polo, where I’ve served as president, captain and treasurer. What I value most about the team is the strong sense of community. We’ve built an environment that’s inclusive, supportive, and welcoming to everyone, regardless of experience level. The team has become a space where students can stay active, have fun, and find balance amid the academic pressures at Cornell. Being part of that growth and helping to shape the culture of the team has been one of the most meaningful parts of my college experience.

person playing water polo

How have your beliefs or perspectives changed since you first arrived at Cornell?

When I first arrived, I felt pressure to figure everything out: my major, career path, and long-term goals. But over time, I’ve realized how important it is to stay open and give yourself grace. I’ve changed my major, explored new fields and challenged myself in ways I never expected. I’ve discovered that growth isn’t linear, and success doesn’t come from having a perfect plan but rather from staying resilient, curious and true to what matters most to you.

team of water polo players in their suits

Who or what influenced your Cornell education the most?

A number of professors and peers have strongly influenced my education. In statistics, professors like Melissa Smith and David Kent fostered my learning and deepened my understanding of the subject. In psychology, classes with Tom Gilovich and Robert Sternberg pushed me to think critically about human behavior and decision-making and helped me gain real-world applicable skills regarding understanding human behavior. My Cornell experience was also highly impacted by the individuals in communities I participate in on campus; whether they are classmates, peers or close friends, they have supported me incredibly throughout my four years at Cornell.

Every year, our faculty nominate graduating Arts & Sciences students to be featured as part of our Extraordinary Journeys series.Read more about the Class of 2025.