Biography
By Jim Hague
To say that Sasha Potter has dedicated her life to helping others would be a gross understatement.
The Rutgers-Newark senior women’s soccer standout has been volunteering her services for the betterment of others since she was a little girl growing up in Monroe Township in central New Jersey.
“I guess it started when there was a little girl in Monroe who had autism,” Potter explained. “I wanted to do something to help her, so I would go and read to her a few times a week.”
As Potter got older, her volunteer efforts increased.
“Every Friday, I would go to the Goodwill in my town and help serve dinners to the needy,” Potter said. “More or less, I just wanted to do my part to help.”
Even after Potter enrolled at R-N, she maintained her philanthropic ways. In August of 2008, Potter traveled to Cambodia, where she spent a month studying and helping people there.
“I did it with an organization called Global Path,” Potter said. “We got together with about 20 students from the Cambodian University and our goal was to find a problem that was taking place and just help them solve the problem.”
Potter and the other students went to a poor Cambodian school and worked on a project that would help raise funds to assist the school.
“We were able to get computers and books for the kids,” Potter said. “We did the project in English and Cambai, the native language.”
Potter was asked if she learned how to speak Cambai in her month in the Far East.
“I can say a little bit, like thank you, sorry and excuse me,” Potter said. “It was such a great experience. I want to go back so bad.”
Last January, during the winter recess, Potter was once again a world traveler, this time heading to Peru to join another volunteer cause.
“I found a cross-cultural organization that helped people in nursing homes, orphanages, hospitals and even prisons,” Potter said. “I helped to take care of some kids whose mothers were in prisons and I helped to groom some elderly women in nursing homes.”
While Potter will earn her degree in biology next spring, she is also working on a double minor in public service and sociology -- two fields that she obviously already has vast experience.
Potter has also turned her volunteer efforts over to the women’s soccer squad at Rutgers-Newark.
As one of the senior leaders, Potter took it upon herself to be like a goodwill ambassador to the incoming freshmen.
“I think it’s obvious that the younger kids look up to her,” said R-N head women’s soccer coach Wojtek Krakowiak. “I’m a big fan of team chemistry. If the players all like each other and click, it makes it easier on the coach. If Sasha was willing to help the freshmen, I was all for it. The freshmen come here, not knowing anyone. They don’t know what to do or say. It’s like they’re by themselves. Sasha made them feel more comfortable. It’s going to help the team in a good way. I’m grateful that she’s doing that.”
To Potter, making the newcomers feel welcome is just part of what she does.
“I find that everyone is just a little serious, but soccer is supposed to be fun,” Potter said. “So making the freshmen feel wanted is just part of what I do. I really love volunteering and I love helping others.”
But soccer isn’t the most important thing in Potter’s life. Her academics definitely come first.
Need proof? Try Wednesday’s game against FDU-Florham. Potter, a fine defender who was also the Rutgers-Newark Female Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2008, had to attend a public service class, so she was forced to miss the first half of the contest.
However, she got dressed right after class was over and returned in time to play the second half. Lo and behold, Potter was the one who scored the Scarlet Raiders’ lone goal.
“That’s pretty much me in a nutshell right there,” Potter said.
Krakowiak knows that Potter is an asset to his program, even if she doesn’t play a minute.
“She’s just a happy person and has so much energy,” said Krakowiak, the former Clemson All-American and Herrmann Award winner who is in his second season as head coach at R-N. “She gets the team going. Everyone loves her. She’s very open and is a good listener. The young kids on the team can go to her and she’ll help them.
Added Krakowiak, “She’s very committed to try to help others, like those less fortunate than her. That says a lot about her personality and character.”
Krakowiak said that Potter’s demeanor and approach to soccer has changed.
“There’s a big difference between her this year and last year,” Krakowiak said. “Two years ago, she had mixed feelings about whether she wanted to play, but now, she’s enjoying things again and it shows.”
“I look forward to playing now,” Potter said. “It’s been fun playing for Wojtek. He’s made it fun again. And I still believe soccer is about having fun. Sure, there are times to be serious, but it has to be fun.”
Potter doesn’t know what the future holds. Her parents would love for her to go to medical school, but she may try something different.
“I may want to go to graduate school and study public health through the Peace Corps,” Potter said.
A true volunteer, a true helper of others, through and through. That’s what Sasha Potter is all about.
