Hey Athenas!

I'm Gizelle, and I'm a senior (eek!) at CMC. I mainly play defense, but will make a sporadic appearance at outside mid. I'm a Biology major, and I'm hoping to get into any dental school that accepts me (also took the DAT aka Death After Torture (A is for Aptitude, Julia :) )- good luck on that by the way! I’m also looking forward to playing softball in the spring with Michaela!

I studied abroad in Ecuador and I loved it, so I decided to try Central America this time. I'm in Costa Rica for 8 weeks researching canopy gaps. Ok so here’s basic life: I run into an average 3 spider webs per day. I sleep with a mosquito net and marinate myself in eucalyptus oil and DEET. You have to keep everything you own in plastic bags or else it will not work/grow mold. You also have to be used to being sweaty. It's as if everything you do here is some estranged version of Bikram Yoga. Bikram standing, Bikram eating, and Bikram sleeping. It rains every day at around 2. I have to keep my headlamp with me at all times because the power shuts off whenever lightning strikes near the house- It’s happened twice! I eat beans, rice, and fruit everyday. The beach here is gorgeous and the water is so warm! I'm in a weird hut-house with 5 people, like a jungle version of the Real World.

When I am not hiking (the hike through the reserve is straight uphill 20 minutes speed walking/running) I have to do my workouts on the front porch. It’s like a 30 minute shuttle run. YES! And there’s no gym so I lift this 6 liter water jug we bought in town. On my days off, though, I head to the soccer field and play pickup or do SEBCO. I hope it’s enough though!

I’m so excited to meet all of you- counting the days to bring home another championship season!

G