Congratulations to Georgina Barnes who is heading to
American International College on a
field hockey scholarship. Georgina is one of our many clients from Australia. We caught up with Georgina and she gave us her feelings on what her life will be like as a
student athlete.
- Where are you from and what's your sporting background?
I am from Canberra, Australia.
I have been playing
hockey since I was approximately 10. I made my first representative team with the Australian Capital Territory in Under 13s, but started playing more seriously at around the age of 15, when I moved to Belgium with for my mum’s work. I debut for the women first grade competition at age 17, when I moved back to Canberra. I have been playing first grade since then for the same club,
United Hockey Club. This was when I really began to focus on my hockey as I had a lot of assistance from my former coach Luke Austin, he contributed largely to me getting a scholarship to America. My current coach Peta Mackinnon also helped develop my skills, fitness and mental strength to ensure that I'm in my best condition for the move to America.
- Why have you decided to attend a University in the States?
I’ve been playing hockey for as long as I can remember and have been moving all of my life as a result of my father being in the army and my mother being a diplomat. When I graduated from high school in December of 2014, I knew straight away that I wanted to go and study in America, despite the fact that I was already accepted into the
Australian National University. After discussing possible options with my dad and my coach, I discovered that it would be possible for me to move to America to study and play hockey at a competitive level at the same time, the best of both worlds really. My father and I started to look into the best ways to get exposure to
American colleges. This was when we discovered Firstpoint.
- What were the key factors that impacted your decision to choose The American International College?
Overall, the key factors that influenced my decision to choose
AIC were a mixture of the academics and athletics programs at the school. At AIC I can study criminal justice whilst also competing at a high level of sports where I'm exposed to incredible facilities both academically and athletically. However, the thing that set AIC apart from other schools was the connection that I made with the coaches. Upon first talking they were all so helpful in ensuring that I understood the different systems both on the field and in the classroom, they were also extremely patience and understanding of the fact that I needed to take my time when picking a school, as its a very big decision to make. All of this was helped by the fact that the school have offered me a good scholarship so that financially, I am able to go.
- How excited are you to spend the next few years in the States?
The waiting to see if I’d get any offers and then waiting to see if id be accepted and then wondering who I should pick was all quite overwhelming. So, the fact that I now have a team and a community, which I’ll belong to for the next four years, is beyond exciting and I cannot wait to go. On top of that I get to spend the next four years of my life in a country I've never been before and experience a completely different lifestyle.
- How did you find the scholarship process?
The
scholarship process was a bit stressful and it was hard to not doubt myself throughout it. But I honestly had so much help from my former coach Luke, who helped me begin to develop my skills and was very supportive of my decision to pursue a scholarship, my current coach Peta, who continues to help me improve all aspects of my game so that I'm ready for America and has also continuously supported me and also my dad and FirstPoint. My dad was very patient throughout the entire process and put up with me, which at times wouldn't have been enjoyable. Firstpoint helped me from the very start of understanding how the process works, to studying for my SAT all the way through to when I signed with AIC. Michael helped me so much consistently when I started talking to schools and he was constantly giving me advice on how best to handle situations. In the grand scheme of things, I really did not do much aside from study and train. I'm so thankful that FirstPoint worked with me because they played a big part in me getting my placement.
If you'd like to head to America on a sports scholarship, apply to FirstPointUSA today!
