As the remainder of the 2019-20 season was canceled on March 12 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Sun Belt Conference is helping others get to know Sun Belt student-athletes presented in a Q&A series on the league's website and social media platforms.

Q: Why did you choose to attend Coastal Carolina?
A: Coastal Carolina University is surrounded by almost a hundred golf courses (many of which are world-class), and for a girl who grew up with one golf course and a season shorter than three months at home, this is paradise. I also fell in love with our campus and all of the amazing people here.

Q: What do you enjoy most about being a student-athlete?
A: The fact that we get to travel to so many places, meet so many new people, play the sport we love, and get an education at the same time!

Q: What drew you to compete in golf?
A: I love being active, meeting new people, challenging myself, and traveling the world, and with golf, I get to do all those things while the weather is usually pretty great as well.

Q: What is one of the best memories you have competing in a Sun Belt Championship event?
A: Our conference championship win in 2018. We were playing such a tough course but we really stuck together as a team and just enjoyed the ride and ended up winning by 34 shots!

Q: How does being an athlete make you a better person?
A: It really pushes me to be a team player, take accountability for my actions, and always strive to take the higher road even in tough or unfair situations.

Q: What do you enjoy most about being around your current group of teammates?
A: We truly are a diverse group of people from countries across the world and we have so much to learn from each other which is incredibly interesting and fun!

Q: Who is one major influence in your life? Why?
A: I cannot really pinpoint only one person since there are so many people who have influenced my life and helped me on the way to become who I am, but my dad has always pushed me to do what I love when it comes to sports, and both my parents have always supported me in any way they could, which has been incredibly positive.

Q: In this time away from your sport, what do you miss about it the most?
A: Just being able to play - to feel the rush of competition and spending time with my team on the road seeing new places.

Q: What are your aspirations beyond being an athlete?
A: My ultimate goal is to start my own company and use it to help young athletes on their dream-chasing journeys. But I also just want to find a place where I can feel at home and at peace after so many years on the road chasing after my own dreams.

Q: As a senior, this current time obviously brings a lot of emotions. How are you handling and navigating this time with your playing career currently halted and classes being online?
A: I am obviously a bit disappointed that I did not get to finish this season and graduate in person like I always pictured, but at the same time, I am actually so excited for what is to come once all this is over. By focusing on the positive, being able to spend some extra time with family, and planning for the future, these strange circumstances have not affected me as negatively as they could have. 

Q: After not competing this past fall, you had become a constant in the CCU lineup this spring. What did it mean to be in the starting lineup and what would you consider the best part of your game?
A: Last year was honestly one of the toughest years of my life. There were so many things going wrong at the same time and finally being able to come back from an all-time low and travel with the team again this spring meant the world to me. I still have a lot to work on to be fully back on track, but my ball striking is finally starting to feel good again.

Q: As you look back on your career at Coastal Carolina, how have you seen the women’s golf program elevate to new heights?
A: I believe this program has grown a lot since I first joined and I think it has become a program with the potential to win major championships if it continues on the same path. Things like empowerment, competitiveness, hard work, and trust have pushed each and every one of us on the team to become our best, both on and off the course, and with the right timing in the future, I think that the important pieces will finally fall into place.

Q: You only began playing golf in 2009. What drew you to the sport?
A: I was injured from skiing one season (I was an alpine skier at the time) and was trying to find new ways of staying active when skiing was not an option anymore, and golf became my new passion!

Q: You’re also an excellent downhill skier. What drew you to compete in that sport growing up and what is your favorite thing about it? How do golf and downhill skiing relate, if at all?
A: I grew up in a small ski town in the north of Sweden where skiing is like breathing for most people, and so it fell kind of naturally to me. I absolutely love being up in the mountains on a sunny winter day, and the adrenaline that comes with racing downhill is arguably one of the best sensations you can have. Golf and skiing are very different in the sense that a race only takes a few minutes, can be over in a split second (if you are unlucky), and you mostly have to rely on reflexes and instincts to make it through to the finish line. Golf, on the other hand, can take days, standings change all the time, and you have to rely on cognitive decision to make it through. However, both sports are similar in the sense that it pushes your mental strength, improves your physical ability, takes you to the most amazing places, and allows you to meet new people.

Q: What would you consider the most valuable thing you have learned while at CCU?
A: That no matter how hard things might seem, the challenges we face in life and sports can all be overcome with the right mindset and the right people in our surroundings. In fact, it will only make us stronger.