Tori Okorodudu Senior Spotlight
Jocelyn Goldstein ('25)
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Recently, you announced your commitment to continue your academic and athletic career at Lehigh University. What was the recruitment process like and what stood out to you about Lehigh?
My recruitment process started the summer going into my junior year. Lehigh wasn’t one of the first teams to reach out to me but they saw me play at a showcase and started communicating with me. I was talking to some other teams at the time, but what made Lehigh stand out was their commitment to providing student athlete support. Some of the other teams I talked to were not as supportive, especially at some of the bigger schools—they can be indiscriminate, cut people, and have massive rosters. Lehigh told me I would be an “impact player” so I would be able to get minutes. They also had a really diverse team which I liked.
Throughout your Masterman soccer career you have been a dominant force, beating the all time scoring record and winning MVP of the Public League 3 years in a row. What has been the most memorable moment during your time on the Girls Soccer team?
This is hard. Beating Franklin Towne in penalty kicks was a massive moment. The energy was so intense and I had never been in a penalty shoot out that important before. Obviously winning the PPL Championship was the biggest moment. It was a hard game, but it wasn’t as intense as I thought it would be. Seeing everyone afterwards and everyone being so happy made it really special. I think that was the best moment.
How did you get into running track? What has been your favorite experience on the highschool track team here at Masterman?
Track was originally my main sport. I started when I was really young, probably at seven or eight. I ran for a Club team called Conshohocken Electric Force and I did really well there at the sprint events. I sort of burned out after a while because it felt like there was a lot of pressure on me. Then I started prioritizing soccer more and I completely stopped running before quarantine happened. Last year I got into it again with the highschool team and I was able to do the sport without as much pressure as Club. I felt like the team was super supportive. Tino (‘24) and Justin (‘24) were the captains, and they were just super welcoming. I was worried I wouldn’t fit in or it would be a bad experience since I didn’t know everyone, but they were super welcoming. Running to Lloyd Hall everyday after a long day of school can make you feel like you don’t want to do it, but you end up getting energized after it. It’s such a nice run, so it was a really good experience.
What are some of your pregame or pre race regimens?
Recently I started taking my dog out on a short walk to get my legs moving before club games. The night before I’ll do some stretching and some yoga. It helps me center on what I want to accomplish in the game. For food, I like to eat a bacon and egg sandwich with some fruit since that energizes me a lot. I recently started chewing gum during games. I don’t know if that’s allowed but I feel like it helps me focus.
You are Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Impressionist—Masterman’s publication for all creative writing. What style of creative writing is your favorite and what inspires some of your pieces?
I definitely have to say poetry is my favorite. I’ve been writing poetry for a really long time. I think elementary school is when I started experimenting with it. Since it's been such a part of my life, I feel like the way I write poetry can be very spontaneous. Something small will happen or I’ll observe something and a line will pop into my head. I have a notes section where I have all the little sentences that I’ve collected. If I'm feeling inspired I’ll try to build a poem off of one of them or try to incorporate them into a piece. I think I'm mainly inspired by nature and nostalgia. Those two things are very common in what I write.
What is your favorite weekend activity?
I follow a lot of the accounts on Instagram where they talk about a new food place. I like following those accounts and going out. I’ll go out with one of my best friends, Mia, and try to find new places. We have a goal of getting to as many places as we can before we graduate. Nothing specific, but I like discovering new places, it’s a fun experience to get out and try something new.
Favorite food spot in Philly right now?
That’s hard. I just went to this place called Banana Leaf. It’s in Chinatown. It’s Malaysian and they have this really good “Mama Chicken.” That’s a place I discovered on Instagram and went to. It was really good. That’s my favorite as of right now.
What has been your favorite class at Masterman?
This year's Mr. Beers’ AP Lit class. I feel like I'm someone who’s very humanities leaning. In my past humanities courses I’ve never really felt as inspired or like I could contribute as much as I can in this class. It’s very philosophy based and analytical, and I feel like that’s the sort of stuff I’m really interested in. My past English classes have been fun, but I haven’t had the opportunity to showcase my strengths. I think this class fits right into all the stuff I’m interested in. Even though sometimes the work can feel difficult, I feel like I get a lot out of it. I feel like I can analyze media better than I could before and I’m being introduced to new ideas and authors. I like feeling like I'm learning things.
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