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Dennis Strives to be Renaissance Woman 10/21/2005 By Jennifer O’Neill
Scoring a goal in soccer and making a perfect stroke with a paint brush do not in the least bit seem related, but to a Renaissance woman, pursuing the activities simultaneously is natural. Sophomore soccer forward Sarah Dennis has made herself a Renaissance woman by doing both activities, and doing them well.
“My teachers encouraged me to become a Renaissance woman,” Dennis said. “Soccer and art are not really closely related, but they are two things I have a strong passion for. I love giving off the athletic persona that I do, but even more so I love being perceived as a really creative person.”
To excel in both requires a lot of practice.
“She is a fantastic and shining example of a Vanderbilt student-athlete,” said Coach Ronnie Coveleskie Hill. “She is a hard worker in the classroom, on her art projects and on the field, and she is a joy to coach.”
This hard work has produced many accolades for Dennis in both areas.
She has scored five goals for the No. 20 Commodores (13-3, 6-2 SEC). During her first collegiate soccer season, Dennis was named to the SEC All-Freshman team and the SEC All-Tournament team. This year she was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week after she scored both game-winning goals in games against Auburn and Alabama in one weekend. The performance also earned her a spot on the Soccer America National Team of the Week and the Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week.
In the art world, Dennis earned third place for her work in a Shelby County, Tenn. contest and two silver keys in the National Scholastic Program Contest.
Artists usually have unique personalities that separate them from the rest of their peers. Dennis’s coach thinks her personality helps her to exceed at her craft and on the field.
“Sarah is an excellent example of a player that has a strong belief in hard work,” Hill said. “She has a unique personality. She is a free spirited kid. She has different likes and dislikes than most other kids her age. It is important that Sarah keep those differences in the front of her mind and that she allow her free spirit to come onto the field.”
While Dennis has been playing soccer for as long as she can remember, she only realized her passion for art after she was required to take a high school art class.
“I didn’t think about ever doing art until freshman year of high school when I had to take either art or music, and I definitely didn’t want to take music,” Dennis said. “I was always busy playing on several different soccer teams, but then my art teacher freshman year of high school brought out a side of me I didn’t know. I fell in love with art and took as many classes as I could in it.”
Dennis mostly creates collages, intertwining several facets of art, including acrylic painting and drawing. She plans to study studio art at Vanderbilt, but she has not decided on a major. She hopes to attend art graduate school.
Filled with the youthful exuberance of a student-athlete, Dennis is happy being a Renaissance woman and juggling her passion for both soccer and art with the same deftness that she juggles the soccer ball. |
