“It’s really more of a community—we could go practice there and stay for dinner and talk to some of the players,” she said. “That was really great, because we don’t have that here at all. We go to other schools and play them and sometimes hold grudges for a while.”

The Harvard freshman also had the opportunity to represent America rather than her school. Though the exhibitions did not have any major implications, Goh said that her mindset was different from that when playing at Harvard.

It was also a chance to take part in that ubiquitous, three-letter patriotic cheer that permeates almost any sporting event where American pride is at stake.

“The first game, we got to cheer ‘USA,’ which is kind of cliché, but you don’t get to do that [very] often,” Goh said. “It’s kind of humbling and puts things in perspective when you get to say that you’re representing your country.”

She also noted in her blog for Harvard’s athletic department that for many of the players on the team, it was their first chance to represent the United States in competition.

Even at a tournament taking place in another hemisphere, Goh could not put any of her work on hiatus. Madl noted that many of the players—and particularly Goh—spent much of the team’s downtime doing the academic work that they missed because of the tour.

Goh said the same, commenting that she was forced to work remotely for much of the trip and in transit.

“Luckily, I’ve got a lot of classes with lectures online—lots of lectures on plane rides and that kind of thing,” she said. “Everything can be managed, and it’s not something that I wanted to miss.”