Eyes on the Future Islander
March 3, 2023
4 years later, what’s the next step? Cariana Pou has decided to attendTexas A&M Corpus Christi for her next 4 years and announced her commitment to be an Islander for the fall semester. Cariana is a graduating senior and captain with a starting role on Charter’s girl varsity soccer team.
It feels like yesterday that she was playing soccer during P.E. in elementary school. It was then that she realized defending the goal was her new passion. She started playing in rec soccer and rapidly got better and better. Expressing a fond memory of soccer, she stated “My first or second year, we went undefeated,” and “it was really memorable”,.
After a few seasons, Cariana wanted to take the sport she grew to love seriously. She had the goal every athlete dreamt of, which was playing in any D1 school. She gave thanks to coaches as they never doubted the player she became. Always by her side was her mom. “My mom is the reason I started playing. She told me that I could do it, and every step of the way she was there for me,” she said.
Heading into high school, Cariana was faced with new challenges but also new memories: a group of teammates she would grow to love for her next 4 years. A good flashback memory Cariana replays is her freshman season beating American Heritage and having a big celebration after with her whole team. “I’ve played for 4 years and every year was the best, it just got better and better,” she said, “I am going to miss my teammates a lot. Honestly, like family I loved each and every one of them.”
Fast forward to her senior season, Cariana and her teammates had one goal: beating crosstown rivals Archbishop McCarthy. After a two time win during her junior year, she sadly fell short of her senior season. With all the comfort of her teammates, soccer season has always been the highlight of her year, always waiting for it to come. “I wished we had beaten Archbishop and kept on going. I am super sad about losing but I’m super proud of the girls.”
Cariana Pou has made her mark here at Charter. Cari’s favorite teacher, Ms.Koch, talked about her thoughts on Cariana’s accomplishments. She proudly stated ,“What a fantastic opportunity to showcase her skills while competing against the nation’s best athletes. Cari, I am so proud of you. It’s no small thing to be in a position where younger athletes will look to you as inspiration. It’s a tremendous responsibility. I believe that you have the focus and discipline to succeed through college and beyond.”
With having such an amazing opportunity it comes to mind who Cari truly is. From the outside, you see a strong Black woman and on the inside it’s someone who gives twice as much but only gets back half. In that sense she says “Personally I feel like being a black woman I have more to prove”. As black history month comes to an end, it shows the determination and excellence these athletes work day and night to accomplish.. Ms.Koch gives one last piece of advice: “Remember the ‘student’ part of student-athlete, and make all of Charter even more proud than we already are.”
