H: Please introduce yourself and your profession.
L: My name is Laura and I am the assistant field hockey coach at Queens University of Charlotte *background talk*
H: When you were young who made the strongest impression on you?
L: I would say pre-high school, when I was young, my parents.  They had a pretty good balance so my Dad was very much so the dreamer. Set the bar high, Dream Big, the sky is the limit. And my Mom was more of the realist. She didnt want us to be hurt or disappointed or spread ourselves to thin. So I would say that before high school, they were the most influencial prior to high school.  Whatever I wanted to do - I mean I did, Indian Princesses - which is a spinoff on girl scouts - so the girls and their dads would go on a trip and go camping and hiking and fishing and build little toy cars and race them. So I did that, I did karate, I took acting lessons… ballet, dance, gymnastics, and then sports… every other sport. And my dad was always like ‘yeah alright go try it’ and my mom was always more of ‘well… if you want to’
H: What sparked your interest in field hockey?
L: Well, I wasn't very good at soccer. I remember not really liking the team in middle school. But my dad told me you're not sitting at home all fall… You’re doing something. SO he walked me back, the season had already started, and he walked me back to the middle school hockey field, and they didn’t even have enough to field so they said ‘you’re breathing? great… you’re playin’ So thats how I got started.  It was more of a filler for awhile.. I really liked softball and thought I was going to go on to play softball in college.  And when I got to high school, my coach, Coach Steel, was probably the most influential person in my life and at that time she was my mentor and steered me into the direction of field hockey my sophomore/junior year.  
H: You transferred to App State… So where were you before and what made you switch?
L: When I was looking to go to college there weren't a lot of Universities I really liked that I could get a good education and play field hockey.  Ball State University out in Indiana was the one school that I really liked.  I liked the campus, the school, the program - they were building the program. So I went out to Ball State, played my freshman year.  I was 1 of 13 in that class… and I think they ended up graduating 3.  Coach was a good coach, she knew what she was talking about, she had a great hockey resume, but the team just didn’t click. There were a lot of other people who had a problem adapting to her coaching style so I though that it would be best for me to try and pursue something elsewhere.  At the time, when I told the coaches I wasn't coming back I had no plan set.  I was just like I dont want to be here, I dont feel comfortable, I dont feel like I am going to be the best person if I stay here.  I left after the semester not knowing what I was going to do. So I sent some emails. Brandi, who was at App was the first who contacted me about transferring and wanted me to come for the spring. So after a couple of other college visits during the break I decided App was where I wanted to go. My parents drove me to Ball State, picked up all my stuff, dropped me off in Boone, North Carolina and drove back to Jersey… and I fell in love with it there.  I knew it was a good fit for me, the players and the team, I met some of my very best friends and I got a good education, I felt prepared when I left there.  So that’s how I got to App.
H: What was the most satifiatying moment playing field hockey… or coaching?

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