Photo by: Stephen Wandzura
Women's Soccer Q&A: Olivia Packer
9/8/2020 9:01:00 AM | Women's Soccer, Competing With Purpose Blog
Olivia Packer wants to be a more vocal, positive leader this season. And although the women's soccer season has been postponed to spring, Packer has already been able to lead the Waves off the field this year. As a member of the Waves Leadership Council's Executive Board, Packer helped start a community service outreach program in which Pepperdine student-athletes will write letters of encouragement to Special Olympic athletes who have also seen their seasons postponed. Packer, who has a lifelong desire to help with the Special Olympics, hopes the Waves and Special Olympians can become pen pals throughout the rest of the semester and beyond. We caught up with the redshirt sophomore about starting Pepperdine's letter-writing campaign, her goals for the year and what the women's soccer team has been doing recently:
Q: What does Pepperdine plan to do with the Special Olympics, and what initially drew you to the idea?
A: Our student-athletes will be writing letters to 67 Special Olympic athletes. When we'll write letters to them, we'll put our return addresses on them so the Special Olympians can write back and become pen pals later. I think this is a really good opportunity that will make a positive impact on the community, since they don't have any sporting events going on and we don't either. It's something that we can do remotely that will make a huge impact.
I've always wanted to work with the Special Olympics; it's always been a dream of mine. My sister played college sports at another school, and her team participated with the Special Olympics once and she loved it. So I've always wanted to do it.
One day, Jordan Holm sent us an email, asking if we wanted to participate in it. I replied to it immediately and told Jordan I'd love to participate and I've always wanted to do it. After that, Jordan asked me if I wanted to meet with them on Zoom. So I met with them, and he's put me in charge with the whole letter-writing campaign.
Q: Growing up, was there a moment along the way that sparked your desire to help with the Special Olympics? If so, what was it?
A: There wasn't a specific event, but I've always loved helping people. Last year, I organized with my team to work at Creative Steps, a program at Pepperdine helping kids with exceptional needs. We hung out with them, sang karaoke and drew — it was just a great event.
At my high school, there was an exceptional need program and I would always hang out with those kids, or they would come eat with me at lunch, which was super fun. I've always just enjoyed helping people and have found it really nice.
Q: How do you stay positive and what motivates your desire to help people out in these uncertain times?
A: Everyone's going through the same thing right now, and you can only control so much. You can control what you can do in your community with others and your energy. So that always helps me. My family, friends, coaches and teammates really inspire me to keep going throughout these hardships and to look at the brighter side of things. Because things could be worse.
I think the people who surround me really keep me positive throughout all the uncertainty, which affects me sometimes. But then I'll hang out with my friends or talk to my coaches and family, and that reminds me of how grateful I am to have these people.
Q: In what ways have the last few months brought your teammates together, and how has this year brought you all together?
A: Honestly, the past few months have made us really close. We left campus in March — we usually get out of school around May and come back in July, so it's usually a shorter summer break. As a group, we haven't really seen each in a while. We'd have Zoom calls with our coaches and our teammates, and it's always nice to see everyone and catch up.
This has made us closer because sometimes it's easy to get caught up in what's going on. I can be a homebody and sometimes I like to be by myself, but I've realized how much I rely on my team to keep me positive and bring me out of my comfort zone. I think we've all realized how grateful we are to have each other.
Q: Describe what it was like to hear your season was being postponed to the spring. What was that moment like for you and your teammates, and what have you all committed to doing between now and when your season happens?
A: It was such a crazy time. I was optimistic throughout it all — I thought we'd have a season, or at least we'd just play conference games and it'll be fine. Not too long after the Pac-12 postponed its season, the thought got into my head that I should get ready for the season to be postponed.
When it happened, obviously it was very hard to hear. Even throughout going home and throughout quarantine, we've all worked very hard in hopes of playing in the fall. Still, it's made us stronger, in a sense. The postponement has given us more time to develop, learn more skills, be more confident in our fitness and our gameplay and learn the game more. Professional teams are still playing, so we can still watch them. The majority of us are still together, so we'll all play pickup games, train, run and hang out. It's brought us closer and made us stronger. We're all ready to play in the spring, and we all seem pretty optimistic.
Q: What are your personal and athletic goals for this year?
A: I want to be more of a leader on the team. We all lead together, so I want to continue to put my voice in and really bring a positive voice and energy to the field. I'm really focusing on that, and my game will come with it. I think the team camaraderie will come together, and ultimately I think we'll do really well whenever the season comes. I don't really focus on my goals too often; Coach Ward always talks about trying to get 1% better every day, so that's what I've been focusing on.
Q: What does Pepperdine plan to do with the Special Olympics, and what initially drew you to the idea?
A: Our student-athletes will be writing letters to 67 Special Olympic athletes. When we'll write letters to them, we'll put our return addresses on them so the Special Olympians can write back and become pen pals later. I think this is a really good opportunity that will make a positive impact on the community, since they don't have any sporting events going on and we don't either. It's something that we can do remotely that will make a huge impact.
I've always wanted to work with the Special Olympics; it's always been a dream of mine. My sister played college sports at another school, and her team participated with the Special Olympics once and she loved it. So I've always wanted to do it.
One day, Jordan Holm sent us an email, asking if we wanted to participate in it. I replied to it immediately and told Jordan I'd love to participate and I've always wanted to do it. After that, Jordan asked me if I wanted to meet with them on Zoom. So I met with them, and he's put me in charge with the whole letter-writing campaign.
Q: Growing up, was there a moment along the way that sparked your desire to help with the Special Olympics? If so, what was it?
A: There wasn't a specific event, but I've always loved helping people. Last year, I organized with my team to work at Creative Steps, a program at Pepperdine helping kids with exceptional needs. We hung out with them, sang karaoke and drew — it was just a great event.
At my high school, there was an exceptional need program and I would always hang out with those kids, or they would come eat with me at lunch, which was super fun. I've always just enjoyed helping people and have found it really nice.
Q: How do you stay positive and what motivates your desire to help people out in these uncertain times?
A: Everyone's going through the same thing right now, and you can only control so much. You can control what you can do in your community with others and your energy. So that always helps me. My family, friends, coaches and teammates really inspire me to keep going throughout these hardships and to look at the brighter side of things. Because things could be worse.
I think the people who surround me really keep me positive throughout all the uncertainty, which affects me sometimes. But then I'll hang out with my friends or talk to my coaches and family, and that reminds me of how grateful I am to have these people.
Q: In what ways have the last few months brought your teammates together, and how has this year brought you all together?
A: Honestly, the past few months have made us really close. We left campus in March — we usually get out of school around May and come back in July, so it's usually a shorter summer break. As a group, we haven't really seen each in a while. We'd have Zoom calls with our coaches and our teammates, and it's always nice to see everyone and catch up.
This has made us closer because sometimes it's easy to get caught up in what's going on. I can be a homebody and sometimes I like to be by myself, but I've realized how much I rely on my team to keep me positive and bring me out of my comfort zone. I think we've all realized how grateful we are to have each other.
Q: Describe what it was like to hear your season was being postponed to the spring. What was that moment like for you and your teammates, and what have you all committed to doing between now and when your season happens?
A: It was such a crazy time. I was optimistic throughout it all — I thought we'd have a season, or at least we'd just play conference games and it'll be fine. Not too long after the Pac-12 postponed its season, the thought got into my head that I should get ready for the season to be postponed.
When it happened, obviously it was very hard to hear. Even throughout going home and throughout quarantine, we've all worked very hard in hopes of playing in the fall. Still, it's made us stronger, in a sense. The postponement has given us more time to develop, learn more skills, be more confident in our fitness and our gameplay and learn the game more. Professional teams are still playing, so we can still watch them. The majority of us are still together, so we'll all play pickup games, train, run and hang out. It's brought us closer and made us stronger. We're all ready to play in the spring, and we all seem pretty optimistic.
Q: What are your personal and athletic goals for this year?
A: I want to be more of a leader on the team. We all lead together, so I want to continue to put my voice in and really bring a positive voice and energy to the field. I'm really focusing on that, and my game will come with it. I think the team camaraderie will come together, and ultimately I think we'll do really well whenever the season comes. I don't really focus on my goals too often; Coach Ward always talks about trying to get 1% better every day, so that's what I've been focusing on.
Players Mentioned
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