When comes time for a first-year student to leave for college, each individual’s experience is different.
Some students commute to a local school. Others travel a great distance to attend college.
In some instances, the journey can take a young scholar thousands of miles away from home and into a new culture.
Thus was the case for Ohio State field hockey player Curlyne Wynn, who hails from Trincity, Trinidad and Tobago.
Wynn, a freshman midfielder on the team this season, came to OSU in March to attend spring quarter classes and was concerned with how she would be accepted by others at the university.
“I wondered if I was going to fit in,” Wynn said.
“When I came here my roommates were like, ‘Do you have electricity?’ Yes, we do have all of those things,” she said
Trinidad and Tobago are two islands, located in the Caribbean, off the coast of Venezuela. Trinidad is business-oriented, while Tobago is more tourist-based, Wynn said.
Wynn has been able to adjust to her new surroundings and become accustomed to the culture of the United States. She said that life in Trinidad and Tobago is similar to that in the United States.
“My country is so Americanized,” Wynn said. “We want to follow everything Americans do. If the latest style is in America, bet your bottom dollar it’s in Trinidad.”
Her aunt, Carol Wynn-Whiteman, who lives in Trinidad and Tobago, recalls a quiet girl who grew up on the island of Trinidad.
“Growing up, Curlyne was a quiet, reserved child who loved animals,” Wynn-Whiteman said. “The family owns a large farm, and she always used to be playing with dogs and other animals.”
The family farm and its animals are memories that Wynn talks about with excitement. They have given her ideas of majoring in pre-veterinary studies.
“I love animals,” Wynn said. “Now I don’t have a dog and it’s driving me crazy.”
Wynn’s first trip to America came two summers ago when she visited her aunt, Marlene Nurse who lives in New York.
“New York is crazy,” Wynn said. “I like it a lot, but I couldn’t live there for more than a few months. If you can survive in New York you can survive anywhere.”
Once in Ohio for school, Wynn had to acclimate herself to the new surroundings. One of the adjustments Wynn had to make was being away from her friends and family. She has her aunt in New York and another family member in the country, but no one in Ohio. Her father, Cagney Wynn, is back home, and she has not spoken with him since she has been at OSU.
“That’s rough,” Wynn said. “I could never do anything wrong in my dad’s eyes.”
She keeps in contact with Wynn-Whiteman through e-mail to keep in touch with home.
“I think the hardest adjustment to living in the U.S. has been the traveling with the team,” Wynn-Whiteman said.
Wynn echoed these thoughts on traveling, especially because she came from a small area such as Trincity.
“It’s not very big. Compared to here, it’s not bigger than campus,” Wynn said of Trincity. “I can travel around Trinidad in a day.”
While traveling takes some getting used to, other issues also arise.
The food and the weather are two things that Wynn misses about home and has to get comfortable with here in Ohio, Wynn-Whiteman said.
The food has been one of the toughest adjustments that Wynn has had to deal with since being at OSU. She misses the foods and spices she would eat back home, but has found some food to satisfy her taste.
“I eat Chinese food because it has salt,” Wynn said. “Everything else here is so bland. There’s no salt; there’s no spice.”
Coming from a warm climate, Wynn is waiting to experience the cold weather the winter season will bring. She is also waiting to see snow for the first time.
“Anytime it drops below 50, there is going to be a state of emergency in Trinidad,” Wynn said with a laugh. “I want to see snow, but I want to see it for one day.”
Her first experience with cold temperatures came when the field hockey team played in the Big Ten Tournament earlier this month.
“I had to play in gloves,” Wynn said. “It’s the first time I had to play hockey in a refrigerator. It was so cold. Mentally, you have to learn to block it out. It’s hard to concentrate when you can’t feel your hands.”
Wynn is one of several international players on the OSU field hockey roster. The team calls them the “United Nations,” Wynn said.
Coach Anne Wilkinson has coached players from Trinidad and Tobago before and has experienced blending different cultures.
“It’s not easy to put a lot of cultures together, but that’s the reality of the world,” Wilkinson said.
Lucy Clayton, Wynn’s teammate, is from England and is able to relate to what it takes to become comfortable in a new place.
“It’s kind of hard. We’re a lot different even though we speak the same language,” Clayton said. “It’s a huge adjustment being away from your culture and family and your friends. Your team becomes your family and your friends. It’s really nice and it makes you feel more welcome and that you have a sense of belonging.”
The bond she has with her teammates has helped to make the transition easier for Wynn. Movies are a hobby of Wynn’s and something she is able to share with her friends and teammates.
“The girls are awesome,” Wynn said. “Everybody has a little connection with somebody even though we’re from different countries.”
Argentina-native and teammate Leticia Fragapane enjoys having someone around who is going through experiences which are similar to her own.
“It’s good to have each other,” Fragapane said. “We can share those thoughts.”
Her teammates and coaches agree that Wynn is an easy-going and fun person.
“She’s real quiet. She keeps to herself, but she’s really got a great sense of humor,” Wilkinson said.
Teammate Cammie Trainer laughed when talking with Wynn, who speaks English. Trainer said sometimes the meaning of what is said is lost when conversing with one other.
“Let’s just say they do things different there,” Trainer said. “Her dialogue is a little bit different.”
The adjustment seems to be going well for Wynn, who this season was selected to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team and named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
“It’s exciting for Curlyne to be selected as the best freshman in the conference,” Wilkinson said. “It’s a great honor for her.”
