Every week, the Sports Information Department at Purchase will select a new student-athlete, coach/staff or event to highlight in our "In the Panther Spotlight" feature … today's feature: International student-athlete, Pernille Karlsen. 

Purchase, NY (Sept. 12, 2014) — College is a hard transition for most.  It can be especially hard as a student-athlete, harder as an international student-athlete, and even harder still as an international student-athlete majoring in the fine arts. 

Despite all the adjustments, Purchase women's soccer junior Pernille Karlsen, who hails from Hadsund, Denmark, has taken things in stride.  The eleven hour plane ride between home and school has become routine for this third-year student-athlete and graphic design major.

After graduating from Handelsskolen (trade school) Minerva in Hobro, Denmark in 2009, Karlsen decided to take a year off to travel.  She backpacked for three months in New Zealand, Australia and Thailand.  Karlsen became quite the dare devil during those few months after taking part in the extreme sports of bungee jumping, skydiving, glacier hiking, river rafting and scuba diving.

"The backpacking experience gave me the urge to see and experience other countries," said Karlsen.  "I found an au pair program that let me live and work in America for 12 months so from July 2010 to 2011, that is what I did."

Karlsen lived and worked that year for a family in Greenwich, CT.  During that time, she joined the Westchester Women's Soccer League which rented out field space from Purchase College, and that is how she came to learn about the school.

After her year as an au pair ended, Karlsen returned to Denmark and worked at her father's company for the following year.

"I missed being in the States," said Karlsen.  "I then got an offer that seemed too good to be true from the family in Greenwich; they told me I could live with if I wanted to pursue my college degree in the U.S."

After accepting their offer, Karlsen began her college search.  She knew she wanted a college that offered a degree in graphic design as well as the opportunity to play soccer, and that is when she remembered Purchase.  She applied and soon after was accepted into the College's School of Art+Design.  Now, a little more than two years later, Karlsen is starting her junior year and has become a success story both in the classroom and on the soccer field.

On average, Karlsen spends ten to twelve hours a week playing soccer.  The graphic design program at Purchase demands a lot of a student's time outside of the classroom, so when she isn't on the field, Karlsen can be found in the Visual Arts building on campus working on a class project or in the library studying for her next exam.  

Karlsen goes home to Denmark every winter and summer break to visit family and friends.

"It is difficult sometimes to be so far away from home, but the friends I've made here and the opportunity to play soccer while receiving an education make it all worthwhile," Karlsen added.   
 
Along with Karlsen and the women's soccer program, Purchase, in total, has five international student-athletes that compete on fall teams.  The men's soccer team is currently leading the way with three players from outside the U.S., including Uriel Milechberg (JR/Buenos Aires, Argentina), and rookies Samvara Anello (JR/Bali, Indonesia) and Renato Martins (FR/Sao Paulo, Brazil).  Rounding out the list is women's tennis ace Roula Zyada (JR/Cairo, Egypt). 

The goal of the NCAA in Division III is to see student-athletes achieve what it calls "life in the balance".  With success stories like Karlsen's and those of other international student-athletes, Purchase College continues to reach that goal each and every year.