Still Connected, Half A World Away
05/12/20 | Women's Soccer, @GoDucksMoseley
Midfielder Maya Hahn of the Oregon soccer team is working out and taking online classes in her home country of New Zealand during the pandemic.
On Monday morning, Maya Hahn arose from bed ready to kick off another week of soccer training and online coursework through the University of Oregon.
Then, she waited almost a full day for her UO soccer teammates to catch up. For the rest of the Ducks, it was still Sunday.
Hahn, a freshman midfielder for the Ducks, is among the few dozen UO student-athletes who double as international students. A native of New Zealand, Hahn is one of a handful who is dealing not only with online coursework during the novel coronavirus pandemic, but with a significant time change as well — in her case, 19 hours.
"At the start it was kind of strange, getting used to the due dates," Hahn said. "But for the most part I think it helps me stay on top of stuff, because we're ahead."
Hahn seems to have maintained a chipper attitude throughout the unprecedented conditions of the last two months. The pandemic denied her the chance to fulfill a long-awaited dream of competing internationally for Germany, her father's native country. And she's been living under some of the strictest lockdown measures in the world, which have earned praise for New Zealand's prime minister, Jacinda Ardern.
It was only in the last couple of weeks that Hahn has been able to do drills on a field that actually sports a soccer goal. But she's been able to spend this time with her family, whose house has beach access. And Hahn has focused intently on her schoolwork — just in the past couple of weeks, she declared her major at the university, economics.
Ardern's lockdown was widely embraced by New Zealanders. Hahn said somebody apparently took the order so seriously, they called police to let them know Hahn was outside her house one day, alone, working on some soccer drills.
Sure enough, officers were soon at her door, a bit chagrined to have to go through the motions of reminding Hahn of the lockdown guidelines.
"They were very chill about it," Hahn said with a laugh.
Thanks perhaps to that fastidiousness on the part of the public, New Zealand is generally thought to have avoided the worst. Recently, the lockdown began the phased process of lifting, allowing Hahn to venture a little ways from home to a park with artificial turf — just like Oregon's own Papé Field — and a soccer goal.
"I was expecting myself to be a bit worse, but it was kind of fine, getting back into it," Hahn said. "It was just nice, the feeling of the ball going into the back of the net."
Hahn experienced that feeling three times with the Ducks as a freshman in the fall, becoming just the eighth player in UO history to score in three consecutive games. Those three goals, across 15 matches, were fourth on the team for the season, and came on just six shots.
A prolific performer in age-group tournaments for New Zealand the past few years, Hahn had recently decided to test herself in Germany's national-team system, fulfilling a goal she's had since she was very young. She was hoping to make her debut with the German U20 team at a tournament in Spain this past March, and at another in Sweden this June. Alas, they were cancelled.
Hahn has tried to stay sharp by doing drills, alone or with her brother — when he wasn't risking the ire of nosy neighbors by surfing at a nearby beach. She has also been doing strength and conditioning drills provided by the UO soccer team's strength coach, John Krasinski.
Because of her planned German team obligations, Hahn had scheduled a lighter academic load for the spring that would have allowed her to participate remotely for extended stretches. That ended up paying off when the entire spring quarter became an extended stretch of remote learning.
Hahn did opt to add an extra course in economics, pairing Intermediate Microeconomic Theory with Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory this quarter. According to the UO's Department of Economics, those courses should be completed by the end of a student's junior year; if and when the UO soccer team takes the field this fall, Hahn will still be only a sophomore.
She does have to get up early three times a week, for Zoom meetings organized by new UO head coach Graeme Abel and his staff, at 6 a.m. in New Zealand. But because of the schedule she put together to account for the national-team play, Hahn hasn't had too many awkward issues with the time change so far.
All in all, she said, "I've been quite lucky."
Then, she waited almost a full day for her UO soccer teammates to catch up. For the rest of the Ducks, it was still Sunday.
Hahn, a freshman midfielder for the Ducks, is among the few dozen UO student-athletes who double as international students. A native of New Zealand, Hahn is one of a handful who is dealing not only with online coursework during the novel coronavirus pandemic, but with a significant time change as well — in her case, 19 hours.
"At the start it was kind of strange, getting used to the due dates," Hahn said. "But for the most part I think it helps me stay on top of stuff, because we're ahead."
Hahn seems to have maintained a chipper attitude throughout the unprecedented conditions of the last two months. The pandemic denied her the chance to fulfill a long-awaited dream of competing internationally for Germany, her father's native country. And she's been living under some of the strictest lockdown measures in the world, which have earned praise for New Zealand's prime minister, Jacinda Ardern.
It was only in the last couple of weeks that Hahn has been able to do drills on a field that actually sports a soccer goal. But she's been able to spend this time with her family, whose house has beach access. And Hahn has focused intently on her schoolwork — just in the past couple of weeks, she declared her major at the university, economics.
Ardern's lockdown was widely embraced by New Zealanders. Hahn said somebody apparently took the order so seriously, they called police to let them know Hahn was outside her house one day, alone, working on some soccer drills.
Sure enough, officers were soon at her door, a bit chagrined to have to go through the motions of reminding Hahn of the lockdown guidelines.
"They were very chill about it," Hahn said with a laugh.
Thanks perhaps to that fastidiousness on the part of the public, New Zealand is generally thought to have avoided the worst. Recently, the lockdown began the phased process of lifting, allowing Hahn to venture a little ways from home to a park with artificial turf — just like Oregon's own Papé Field — and a soccer goal.
"I was expecting myself to be a bit worse, but it was kind of fine, getting back into it," Hahn said. "It was just nice, the feeling of the ball going into the back of the net."
Hahn experienced that feeling three times with the Ducks as a freshman in the fall, becoming just the eighth player in UO history to score in three consecutive games. Those three goals, across 15 matches, were fourth on the team for the season, and came on just six shots.
A prolific performer in age-group tournaments for New Zealand the past few years, Hahn had recently decided to test herself in Germany's national-team system, fulfilling a goal she's had since she was very young. She was hoping to make her debut with the German U20 team at a tournament in Spain this past March, and at another in Sweden this June. Alas, they were cancelled.
Hahn has tried to stay sharp by doing drills, alone or with her brother — when he wasn't risking the ire of nosy neighbors by surfing at a nearby beach. She has also been doing strength and conditioning drills provided by the UO soccer team's strength coach, John Krasinski.
Because of her planned German team obligations, Hahn had scheduled a lighter academic load for the spring that would have allowed her to participate remotely for extended stretches. That ended up paying off when the entire spring quarter became an extended stretch of remote learning.
Hahn did opt to add an extra course in economics, pairing Intermediate Microeconomic Theory with Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory this quarter. According to the UO's Department of Economics, those courses should be completed by the end of a student's junior year; if and when the UO soccer team takes the field this fall, Hahn will still be only a sophomore.
She does have to get up early three times a week, for Zoom meetings organized by new UO head coach Graeme Abel and his staff, at 6 a.m. in New Zealand. But because of the schedule she put together to account for the national-team play, Hahn hasn't had too many awkward issues with the time change so far.
All in all, she said, "I've been quite lucky."
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