Orcin Akman '18 Recruiting Profile

I have been playing sports all my life. I started with basketball when I was 5 years old and continued until high school. Starting with basketball opened many doors to other sports such as soccer, volleyball, swimming, track, softball, and then field hockey. I enjoy playing sports and view it as one of my top priorities. One day, my friend told me about this new sport that I didn't really know much about: field hockey. She told me that there was a clinic that the high school would be hosting at memorial field. I though about it and decided to go because I loved sports and learning to play one more would be fun and would be a new experience for me. Since we were in eighth grade at the time, we weren't on a team, because field hockey wasn't well known in our area and there wasn't a team nearby for us to join. I enjoyed being at the clinic and the head coach invited me and my friend to be ball girls at the next high school game. When the day came to assist the high school team, I payed close attention to how the game was played: the ball control, the passing, the different types of hits. I was very interested and decided to join the NVD field hockey team. Over the summer during preseason before my first year at high school, the coach told me that I would be on Varsity once the season started. I was very happy with this news and practiced even more with my friend who was now my teammate. Unfortunately, during the beginning of the season I had to compete in a piano competition and leave for Massachusetts for thursday, friday, and the weekend. When I came back, the coach told me that I could no longer be on varsity since I left. But I told her that I would be at every practice, scrimmage, and game and prove to her that field hockey and my team were my priority and that I would never leave during the season again. The next year, Coach moved me up to varsity and I volunteered to also help out JV, since our JV team really needed the help and guidance throughout the game. 

I fell in love with playing field hockey and am very eager to continue playing in college. I put my team and my game first above all else and am committed all year round. I practice extra during the season outside of regularly scheduled practices and in the off season, I go and practice at the nearby turf fields. 

An activity that I think makes me stand out from other recruits is playing the piano. I have been playing the piano since around the time I started my first sport: 5 years old. Ever since then, I have played at concerts, competed against other pianists, and traveled to other states for music festivals and competitions. Examples, of places that I have performed in are: nursing homes, churches, carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Bergen PAC, and Lincoln Center.  The festival I went to was in Minnesota where I performed in many halls and competed in competitions. So along with sports, music is also one of my top priorities that I would like to continue pursuing in college.