Anastasia Hunt Senior Profile

DURHAM, N.C. -- Recently, GoDuke.com sat down with senior Anastasia Hunt to learn more about the Moore, Okla., native.

GoDuke.com: What's been your favorite place to travel with soccer?
Anastasia Hunt: Some schools have had some great environments, for example, when we played NC State our freshman year at NC State. It's really cool there because their stands are behind the stadium, and so Tara Campbell got heckled the entire game. Every time she tried to set up, the crowd would yell, “Left, right! Left, right! Kick it!” UVA also always has a great venue because we have such an intense rivalry with them. That's definitely my favorite place to play.

GoDuke.com: Do you have a road trip memory you'll always have with you?
AH: On the way to the national championship game my freshman year, I always remember how we took the bus and the air-conditioning broke down at the back of the bus. All the freshmen were sweating back there; we were doubled up, and the front of the bus was really, really cold. I think I just remember that because that whole entire trip to the Final Four was such a great experience and every single detail sticks out in your head.

GoDuke.com: What is a lesson playing soccer has taught you that you can use for the rest of your life?
AH: I didn't realize this until I became a senior—looking for jobs and having to sell yourself to other people—but I think athletics in general teaches you how to be a great team member and how to work with different people. There's going to be people that you get along with really well, and others who you maybe don't communicate with the same way. So finding a way to communicate with them is really useful no matter where you go, whether it's athletics or you have a job in the real world. Definitely being able to learn how to communicate effectively is one of the greatest things soccer's taught me.

GoDuke.com: What's been you proudest academic achievement at Duke?
AH: Finishing all my pre-med requirements. It's definitely been a tough road, but this past summer I took biochemistry, which was my last chemistry class. Now I have a Chemistry minor and I've done all the pre-med requirements. So that last class has been my greatest academic achievement.

GoDuke.com: Do you have a favorite class or a professor that really stands out?
AH: I had a class with Dr. Steven Churchill. It was called Bodies of Evidence. It's a Forensic Anthropology class, kind of like CSI, Bones, NCIS, Law & Order: SVU. It's teaching the process about it and how to identify things on the human body. Dr. Churchill is a great professor, and I've interviewed him for other classes. He really made the environment and the material really interesting, as well.

GoDuke.com: What do your teammates mean to you?
AH: We're like a really big family. We spend so much time with each other that sometimes you may not like them the most, but most of the time you love them and deep down you really do care for them and wish the best for every single one of them. I think that's an important environment to be able to create on a team.

GoDuke.com: What's special about being a Duke soccer player?
AH: We are a part of the one of the best teams in the nation and then we get to get to go to Duke. The campus is beautiful and we get to receive such a great education that's really unparalleled. Other schools may be great athletically, but not great academically, or others may be great academically, but not great athletically. But at Duke we get the best of both worlds

GoDuke.com: When you leave here, what will you miss most about your time here?
AH: I think being able to be in a place with all of your friends at the same time is something I'm going to miss the most. I've kind of started to realize this as I've lived off-campus, but there's nowhere ever again where you'll be able to be on campus and see your Duke friends and athletic friends, not only from soccer, but from other teams, and friends from your classes. So I'm definitely going to miss that environment.

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