It is often found to be rare for a high schooler to be so involved in both the arts and their sport, but that’s only part of what makes Penn Junior Sophia Salas so unique.
Salas began playing lacrosse at the ripe age of nine, after her mother saw an ad for a Penn Girls Lacrosse youth camp in the local newspaper. Since then, she’s played it consistently, making varsity for the Penn Girls Lacrosse team during her sophomore year.
She began to play as goalie a few years in, and she’s stuck with it ever since.
“I was sort of joking around with my friend when my coach asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to play goalie. I was high with all of the adrenaline of having fun and playing so I went up to my coach and said ‘sure, I’ll try it out.’ I guess I fell in love with it and my coach just saw great potential in me,” Salas said.
While she commits hours of her weeks in the spring to her sport, she still manages to make time for all of her other activities.
Salas is a part of the Early College Academy at Penn, in which she’ll obtain an Associates in General Studies from Ivy Tech Community College. Besides that, she’s also enrolled in two arts courses — painting and 3D art — and she commonly helps out in the Penn art gallery.
“I think lacrosse and art have both taught me patience in different ways and to not worry about the end until you get there,” Salas said. “When doing art, it helps to remember that you can restart and completely change how you view a piece— this also helps with calming down during a game, remembering that nothing is permanent and it’s just a game.”
When she’s not on the field or being creative, Salas can be found working a part-time job at Target. Her busy schedule can be overwhelming, but her unique combination of lacrosse, drawing, and art always help her get through it.
“I think that being forced to go through a whole game believing that I can still make the score better helps in me believing that I can finish a painting or drawing will be better at the end,” Salas said.
As she only has one year left, Salas already has plans for when her high school career comes to and end: she wishes to play at San Diego State University. However, if she gets recruited elsewhere, she’s open to anything. The end goal is to someday end up coaching her own team.
