Q&A with Britt Knouse

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Junior forward Britt Knouse and the Virginia field hockey team hits the road for a three game road trip beginning at 3 p.m. Thursday vs. UC Davis in Spring City, Pa. The Cavaliers will also take on Princeton (7 p.m. Friday) and fourth-ranked Connecticut (11 a.m. Sunday) in Princeton, N.J., over the weekend. Knouse, a native of Mount Joy, Pa., recently caught up with VirginiaSports.com to talk about the season, her major at UVa, what she likes to do for fun and her plans after field hockey.

Question: How do you feel about the season thus far? What positive things have you taken away from it?
Knouse: We’ve been getting better and better each day and we definitely grow with each game we play. We keep finding things to work on at practice. We continue to get used to playing with each other, which is a big thing since we are such a young team.

Question: How has the team responded to all the traveling this season? Another long trip is coming up this weekend.
Knouse: We have been away a lot so we are getting used to it, but it is nice when we have home games. You just have to take it for what it is and play your best wherever you go. It’s going to be tiring because we do play some difficult teams this week, but we just have to push through it. The best part is that we are doing it together.

Question: How do you think you have you improved since your first year?
Knouse: Each first year is difficult, even in high school. Now that I am a third year, my skills have improved and I am just more comfortable with the team. I’m not nervous anymore about making little mistakes because I know they are going to happen. The biggest thing is just learning to get better from them.

Question: You were a pretty good soccer player in high school but chose to instead play field hockey in college. Has that worked out for you?
Knouse: Honestly, yes. I’ve grown a lot since I’ve been here. There was just so much for me to learn and room for me to develop my skills when it came to field hockey. It was a good decision.

Question: Have you declared a major?
Knouse: I am an English major but also have an interest in psychology. I am still taking some psychology classes. English is pretty broad and so I am still trying to explore all the things you can do with that degree.

Question: What has been your favorite class at UVa?
Knouse: Roy Wagner’s fantasy and social values class was quite interesting; we read about aliens and just all this weird and random stuff. Another one I enjoyed was EDLF, which was all about stereotypes. We had some great group projects in that class.

Question: What are your career plans?
Knouse: Right now I am thinking about social work or possibly teaching. I don’t know for sure; I’m still trying to figure all that out.

Question: What do you like to do for fun?
Knouse: I’m up for anything. In the summer I like going to the beach and traveling. This past summer we to vacations to Nags Head, N.C., and Ocean City, Md. I like to go hiking around Charlottesville and just kind of explore the city. There are lots of good restaurants.

Question: What’s your favorite spot on Grounds?
Knouse: I’d have to say the Corner because it’s where all the social life at UVa is found. I always know I am going to run into somebody every time I am in that area.