Freshman midfielder Melissa Clarke is in her first season with the LSU women’s soccer team and is a player who head coach Brian Lee says has the ability to “make an immediate impact on the program.” Clarke graduated from Norcross High School in Norcross, Ga., with a 4.0 GPA and was named a Soccer Buzz Top 50 Recruit in 2005.
She has earned numerous awards, including the honor of being a U.S. Youth All-American in 2004 and a member of the U16 U.S. National Team the last two years. Clarke hopes to lead the LSU soccer program to the top of the SEC and the nation in her time in Baton Rouge. The entries in this diary are meant to chronicle Clarke’s experiences in her first season as a Division I student-athlete.
Sept. 7, 2005: Diary Entry #4:
Last week will be one of the most remembered in history. Rarely has such destruction, emotion and devastation been seen and heard by so many throughout the country in the past several days. Lives have been changed, affected and turned upside down by last week’s powerful storm.
Not only has Hurricane Katrina touched the lives of those hit directly by the storm, but it has caused a ripple effect through everyone whether they believe it or not. Sadly, it is through pain and sorrow that we reveal something deep within ourselves, especially the value of life and each new day. Katrina has definitely caused me to look at my life in a different perspective because I know the future is uncontrollable and unforeseen.
Sadness won’t cure all that is lost, but support is everywhere to be found. So many have come to the aid of those who have lost homes and family members during the disaster. The majority of the population, especially in Louisiana, has tried to help in some way, shape or form. For instance, our team gave a helping hand to the victims at the PMAC (Pete Maravich Assembly Center) and the (Carl Maddox) Field House to help in any way that we could.
Returning to some sort of rhythmic normalcy was refreshing, even though it seemed like the first day of school all over again. Changes in schedules and class location were widespread, partly due to the accommodations of the many students from New Orleans. Even walking around campus it seemed as if there were 10,000 more students than there were before the previous week.
LSU sports as a whole has a great task at hand — to overcome all that has happened and play well for its fans. Pictures of Katrina’s destruction are everywhere. To cast the pictures aside and push them to the back of your mind is a trying effort. Last Sunday we played against the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. Through the game we had chances that we failed to put away with a few hitting the post, and at the end of regulation, the score was still 0-0 sending us to overtime. We pulled through in the first five minutes of overtime to score the winning goal. A ball was sent over the top of the defensive line to Jo (junior forward Joleen Phillips) who dribbled past the keeper to score and win the game. We finished our first game since the hurricane with a hard-fought win.
Last minute changes due to unforeseen circumstances for our upcoming games have caused not only LSU soccer, but all sports to adjust accordingly. Many of the games in this season have been changed and rescheduled, but being the school that we are with such focus, we still plan to approach every game with unyielding intensity.
GEAUX TIGERS!