Charles Nailen/The Hoya

Sport: Lacrosse

Position: Defender

Hometown: Swarthmore, Pa.

High School: Strath Haven

School/Year: COL ’04

Major: Psychology

Minor: English

High School Highlights:

First Team All-American . County Daily Times Female Athlete of the Year . Inquirer’s Main Line Girls Athlete of the Year . Named First Team All-Central, All-Main Line and All-Delaware County in lacrosse her senior year . Selected to U.S. Lacrosse National Tournament Upper-Atlantic Second Team . Three-time team MVP

Georgetown Highlights:

2004: Team Captain. 2003: Named to National and Regional All-America First Teams . Voted Big East Defender of the Year . Tewaarton Trophy nominee for NCAA player of the year . Selected to All-Big East First Team . Named mid-season captain . Led nation in caused turnovers with 3.29 per game average. 2002: Regional All-America Third Team selection . Led team in caused turnovers (34) for second straight year . 2001: Led team in caused turnovers with 48

When did you start playing lacrosse? When I was in seventh grade. We had about 40 girls – 20 girls played at a time and then the next day the other 20 played.

Why lacrosse? My uncle was a coach at Ridley High School, and when I came back from living in Singapore, I needed a spring sport. I didn’t want to play softball, so I decided to play lacrosse. That’s when I really started taking tips from my uncle.

When and why did you live in Singapore? I lived there for four years, from when I was 8 until I was 12-years-old. y dad’s job got transferred over there, so my whole family had to move. It was an amazing experience – we got to travel a lot and learn a lot about different cultures.

Favorite aspect of lacrosse: I would definitely say the team – practicing and playing with the team. You can have the toughest time and they are there to pick you up and they are also there for the victories. It makes it all worthwhile.

Biggest sacrifice you have had to make for sports: Probably all the time in the training room and rehab – I hurt my knee last year against UVA in the semifinals. I tore my ACL. And freshman and sophomore years I spent half the time in a boot because of stress fractures.

If you could have any actress play you in a movie, who would it be and why? Sandra Bullock because she has a fun side to her.

Favorite class at Georgetown: I like all the classes with Dr. LaSchat in the Nursing School. She’s really cool. Also, Professor Shulman for English. I had him for a summer course on Shakespeare and now I have him for Milton. If he can make all that [literature] interesting, he has got to be cool.

If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? I’d say buy a house for my family, wherever they wanted to live and then pay for my family from Colombia to visit in the States – make sure my family members get over here.

Person who knows you best: Probably my mom. She’s close with a whole lot of my family, but she has a way to get me to open up.

Biggest pet peeve: When people eat my food. I’m very protective of my food.

Best concert you have ever been to: Michael Jackson in Singapore, but before his downward spiral.

If you were stranded on a desert island with one CD, one movie and one person, who and what would you bring? CD: A mix, I like a little diversity in there. Movie: Notting Hill – I could watch it on repeat for a while. Person: I’ll say Tad Hamilton.

Best childhood memory: Thanksgiving dinner at my grandparents’ house when both sides of the family were there.

Biggest misperception that other people have about you: People probably think that I’m tough to get to know when actually I’m just a really shy person. I won’t open up until I’ve had a chance to get to know you.

Ideal job: A job where you could travel all over the world and kind of just do my own thing without having a boss to bother me.

Thing you will miss most about Georgetown: Walking around the campus and seeing teammates from across Red Square or just something like that. Or even going to class.

Most frustrating part of lacrosse: Those days when you just feel like everything is wrong. And then it’s a downward spiral and you start overanalyzing everything. The bad days are the most frustrating.

Biggest obstacle you have had to overcome: Surgery this summer [after I tore my ACL]. I was just stripped away from movement and isolated to my room. It was frustrating and it takes a lot out of you.

One word you would use to describe yourself: Easy-going.

One word your best friend would use to describe you: Bizarre.

Hobbies or collections: I’m huge on movies; that’s my thing. A Care Bear here, now and then – that’s always good to have. And pictures. I love taking them and love having them.

Three books on your ideal coffee table: Power of One (Bryce Courteney), Oh the Places You’ll Go (Dr. Seuss), The Rescue (Nicholas Sparks).

Biggest role model: I’d say my brother (Chris, 23). He has this fun-loving personality and he can make everything a joke. He’s really funny and has got great stories. He’s always looking out for me. He’s one of the reasons I’m here playing on this lacrosse team.

If you could be great at any other sport, what would it be and why? I’d say basketball. I wish I could play it like a boy and slam dunk and jump so high and stuff like that. Or football, but again you have to be a boy.

Worst movie you’ve seen: Road Trip or Dumb and Dumber or something like that.

Goal for lacrosse team this season: To stay focused and accomplishing what the team hasn’t been able to do yet, which is winning the national championship, obviously. We need to take one step at a time and not get ahead of ourselves.

Favorite place in D.C.: Jamba Juice. My favorite drink is the Orange-Berry Blitz.

Most important lesson you’ve learned from playing lacrosse: Just that with hard work and determination combined, you’re going to be very successful.

Favorite food: Pizza, plain.

Good luck rituals or superstitions you perform prior to a game: I’m pretty superstitious. There are three seniors on the team now – there used to be 10 and now we’re down to three – we always walk out in the same position in the same line. And we do this cheesy triangle and slap hands. And the season hasn’t started yet, so we still have rituals building up. We slap sticks with everyone on the team. And we have this thing called “Geet to the Beat” – it turns into a song and there’s break-dancing in the middle of it and it gets everyone really excited.

Biggest non-sports related achievement: Making it in and out of here in four years. It’s pretty big for me – that’s pretty important. Lacrosse really does take a lot out of you time-wise. But you get the best of both worlds: academics and sports.

One thing you learned the hard way: That too much fun is not good for academics. Freshman year I had a lot of trouble and time management needed a lot of work.

What’s under your bed right now? Clothes.