Traveling to another country where you are unfamiliar with the language can be a terrifying experience. It becomes frightening when you are completely emerged into a new culture.

That is the challenge that Shippensburg University field hockey player Jazmin Petrantonio has taken, leaving home in Buenos Aires — Argentina’s capital city — for Shippensburg. 

Petrantonio came to the United States in August for the field hockey team’s pre-season, with little understanding of the English language, and when she first arrived, she had no clue what she was getting herself into. After a 16-hour flight and a five-hour drive from New York, she finally arrived in Shippensburg.

“I had never been here before. I just saw pictures and the first time that I was here I won’t forget. I talked to someone and I spoke such bad English that she didn’t understand me so it was really a bad first experience,” Petrantonio said. 

Petrantonio decided to come to SU after being recruited by head coach Tara Zollinger at a tryout, and Zollinger told Petrantonio she wanted to be a Raider and she accepted that.

“Coach Zollinger is part of a company that recruits athletes and I ended up in a tryout and I don’t know how I ended up there,” Petranotonio said. “The first time I met Tara was in May, and she told me that I really wanted to play in Shippensburg and that’s how it started. It was pretty crazy because it was one of the hardest decisions I’ve made in my life.”

Now a little over a month later, Petrantonio’s understanding of English has grown, and the experience of being in a different country has been remarkable for her. 

“I speak Spanish and when I came here I could speak a little bit of English but it was like nothing,” Petrantonio said. “I learned a lot in one month and I think that really helped me to communicate. When I first came here with my parents I was shy. I thought that I didn’t want to talk to people because they are not going to understand me. What am I going to do? Now I know that I don’t have my parents so I have to communicate with people because there is nobody that can help me.”

The biggest change for Petrantonio was dinner time. Back home, she often ate late at night. Petrantonio recalled an experience of struggling to adjust to an American eating schedule during pre-season.

“In Argentina, we would eat dinner at 9 p.m. and here I’m sleeping,” she said. “We had dinner at 3 p.m. and I was thinking that I didn’t want to eat a burger at that time. I just wanted to drink a chocolate milkshake or something or eat a salad. It’s not a big deal, but that first week I was thinking I didn’t want to eat at the same times but now I eat dinner at 6 p. m. It’s funny now, but at the time it wasn’t.”

Petrantonio also benefits from a roommate who is undergoing the same experiences she is, as SU freshman midfielder Aerin Kolfoort is from the Netherlands.

“The first week we were here we were thinking, what are we doing here, where are we? It’s different here,” Petrantonio said. “We thought that we wouldn’t practice twice a day and had thoughts of quitting saying I cannot do that, it’s a lot. We eventually said come on, we come from different countries and we can do this.’

“We just don’t have our families here and that’s the reality. Now Aerin is like my sister and we have a great relationship. It’s pretty great to have someone that is living the same thing that you are living by being away from your family,” Petrantonio continued.

While Jazmin needed some time adjusting culturally, it took no time at all for her play on the field to translate from Argentina. Growing up playing for club teams, Petrantonio exploded onto the scene with an NCAA Division II field hockey record with six assists in a game, breaking a record that stood since 1994.

“I think it was a completely different game. It was crazy. I ended the game and I didn’t realize I had six assists,” Petrantonio said. “I think that everything I do in this game, not just against Millersville but against every team, I owe to my teammates. I didn’t score six goals, I just had the six passes. If I don’t have a teammate to score the goal there is no assist.”

Petrantonio has shown a terrific passing ability early this season, and she is currently second in all of Division II with 10 assists. 

She may miss home from time to time, but she feels like she has a new home at SU.

“I am part of this huge family and have the support of all my teammates. Sometimes, I don’t even think about how I miss my family because I have my real family here,” she said.

Jazmin’s start to her career has been extremely successful on and off the field and with her determination, she has all the tools she needs to succeed.

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