Tara Campbell: Engineer Varsity Soccer Player

Name: Tara Campbell
Year: Junior
Major: Civil Engineering with a certificate in Architectural Engineering
Field Position: Goalie
 
Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio
 
On-Campus Activities: I’m not too involved. Mostly on campus I’m playing soccer or doing homework.  I don’t have much time for a lot of other things.
 
 
Off-Campus Activities/Hobbies: I watch a lot of TV, probably too much TV.  I also enjoy arts and crafts; my team makes fun of me because I still have a coloring book.
 
At what age did you begin playing soccer?Does anyone in your family play at a collegiate or professional level? I started playing soccer at around 5 and no one else in my family plays soccer on any level.
 
What is your secret to being both an engineer and a varsity soccer player?Honestly the secret is knowing that you can’t over extend yourself.  I sometimes have to say no to things because I have too much work or the team has practice.  Also it is important to stay on top of the workload.  If you let things build up until the day before then life gets really really stressful.
 
 
If you could be the best soccer player in the world or the best civil engineer in the world, which would you pick?I would want to be the best soccer player in the world!  Even thought the women’s professional league might not be around next year or even after that, being the best in the world must have its perks.  I could play with a men’s professional team…I mean I am the best soccer player in the world, men’s or women’s.
 
 
Favorite class and professor here at Duke?My favorite class I have had at Duke is probably CE130, which is a civil engineering class about design optimization.  It involved some interesting projects and there were no test which is always a plus.  I have had two teachers at Duke that I really enjoyed, the first is Henry Gavin who I’ve taken two classes from in the CE department.  Also Zbigniew Kabala.  I had him for one class and I really enjoyed his personality and teaching style.  Also he always followed duke athletics and knew what the soccer team was up to.
 
One thing you want to do before graduating?I actually have a whole list of things I want to do before graduation.  My roommate and I stole the “100 things to do at Duke” sign that hung in our dorm freshman year and we have been crossing things off ever since.  We are hoping to have all 100 done by graduation, and we are a little over half way now.  Keeping on pace to finish!
 
If you were stuck on a deserted island, what three things would you bring?A blanket, a knife?, and a game of some sort, maybe bananagrams.
 
If you were granted one super power, what would it be?I would love to be able to teleport.
 
If you could invite anyone to play a match of soccer with you, who would it be (he/she doesn’t have to be a soccer player)?I would love to meet Matt Damon, so I guess I would play soccer with him?  He’s played rugby in a movie before so maybe his soccer skills wouldn’t be too bad.
 
Dream vacation spot?I would love to go to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  I’ve been there once and loved it.  I’d love to go back
 
Twinnies decides to name a sandwich after you, what will it be called and which ingredients will it have?hmm. It would have turkey, lettuce, tomato, and honey mustard in a pita.  It would be called the TLC, since those are my initials.
 
Favorite memory on the field?I would have to go with the obvious answer and say our final four game this past season when we beat Wake Forest 4-1.  I remember when the final whistle blew looking over and the entire bench was running straight for me.  They had decided they were going to tackle me at the final whistle and it was really fun to have the whole team running at m