15 questions with... Zoe Belodeau, a Penn women's lacrosse senior

The Daily Pennsylvanian asked Penn women's lacrosse's Zoe Belodeau 15 questions about her sport, her time at Penn, and her life overall. Here's what the senior had to say.

1.  Can you introduce yourself?

My name’s Zoe Belodeau, and I’m from Potomac Falls, Va. I’m an attacker on the Penn women’s lacrosse team, and I’m a senior captain.

2.  Did you grow up with other athletes in the family?

Yeah, my dad and my older brother played lacrosse, so they got me into the sport when I was still super young. I think I was around six years old when I started playing in the backyard with them.

3.  When did lacrosse become a passion of yours?

So, I also played other sports like tennis and basketball growing up, and I realized that I was always comparing those other sports to lacrosse and kept wanting to go back to it. It was around sixth grade that I finally decided lacrosse was definitely the sport I wanted to play.

4.  Which three words would you use to describe yourself as an athlete?

Composed, creative, and a team player.

5.  Who is your biggest sports idol?

This is a little cheesy, but I would actually say my dad. He played lacrosse growing up and always talks about playing sports for the love of the game. There’s not a lot of money to be made and the professional leagues aren’t that big, so he always just reminds me how fun and competitive lacrosse is, which is why I love it so much. He’s super invested in my athletic career, so I always look to him for advice when I have a big game coming up or anything like that.

6.  Do you have any game day rituals?

If you ask anyone, I’m the one in the corner of the locker room with my headphones on, I’m not really a big locker room dancer. I definitely have certain songs that I listen to right before I have to take my headphones off, but I’ll usually spend around an hour sitting and listening to music just really getting in the zone before the coaches come in for game time.

7.  What is your favorite part of playing lacrosse for the Red and Blue?

My favorite part is obviously the people I play with, but I would also say our shared mentality of "work hard, play hard." We always talk about how we’re somewhat "underdogs" due to the Ivy League restrictions of how much we can practice in the off-season. We just have this grit embedded in how we play games, and I feel like I’m constantly surrounded by people who are so confident and hardworking everyday. We push each other to be better for each other.

8.  How have you grown since you were a freshman walking into your first practice on Franklin Field?

I think I’ve grown in a lot of ways. I’d say mainly I’ve learned to be more outspoken and vulnerable as a player. I’ve learned a lot about my weaknesses as both a leader and a player, and even though I say I’m composed, I’m also someone who internalizes a lot of things. I’ve definitely had to work on it with my coaches and teammates to try to be better for the rest of the team, even just by cheering more and expressing those faults so we as a team can all grow together.

9.  What is your favorite lacrosse memory ever?

My freshman year we played Northwestern, one of our biggest rivals. They’re a super competitive team, and it’s always a close game. Leading up to the half, the game had gone back and forth, goal for goal. We were down by a goal, and one of our big defenders, Chelsea Kibler, who was a sophomore at the time, got the ball on defense. She literally went coast to coast, all the way down to the goal, and for some reason no one could stop her. She ripped a goal, which she had never done, and all of us were just so confused and surprised. She had such a cool mentality, she just dropped her stick and walked away from the goal. She made it look so easy, the rest of us looked bad. Definitely a moment I’ll never forget.

10.  Do you have a favorite class you have taken at Penn?

Definitely CRIM 270: Biopsychosocial Criminology. It was taught by Adrian Raine, who is a super profound psychologist in the field of criminology. I’m such a nut for true crime documentaries, and I’m the girl that always knows weird things about serial killers and criminals, so I really enjoyed that class because it taught me a lot more about that world.

11.  Did you develop any new hobbies over quarantine?

I actually picked up Sudoku, and now I’m obsessed. I love listening to music and I knew I needed to be outside, so I would just sit outside with headphones on and do those little Sudoku books. It was enough to pass the time, but it wasn’t as much of a commitment as something like an actual book would have been.

12.  Are you currently binging any shows?

I always go back to Criminal Minds. I’ll binge it for a little and then I’ll have to step away from it when I realize I’m paranoid about everything in real life. Once I start psychoanalyzing people on the street, I know I need to take a break from true crime.

13.  Who should we look out for this year in the Red and Blue?

We have a sneaky good freshman class, so I’m really excited about them. Definitely look out for some of them stepping up to the plate a bit.

14.  What’s your biggest piece of advice to someone looking be in your shoes one day as a Division I lacrosse player?

I would just say try not to beat yourself up about little mistakes so often. Mistakes happen, but every time you fail, you’re going to get that much better. Keep pushing through it.

15.  How do you hope to be remembered at Penn?

I hope I’m remembered as someone that could bring everyone together, and a person who helped make our program competitive, risk-taking and creative. Someone that people remember as a great player, but more than that, a great leader and teammate.