RHODA HIJAZI OF SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, a freshman midfielder on the Pirates women's soccer team, has been named the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Female Character and Community Award Winner for the week beginning on January 21.
Last November, the Southwestern University Pirates women’s soccer team battled Trinity University until the end in a 1-0 loss in the SCAC championship.
A subtle change here or there, the small shifting of odds, and perhaps the match has a different outcome. However, such things aren’t dwelt on by Southwestern’s Rhoda Hijazi who, if not for the small shifting of some odds, might have found herself in a drastically different life.
“I’m I’ve been blessed to be a first-generation American,” Hijazi said. “My parents are both immigrants from Syria. A lot of [my family] has left and have been able to leave being refugees but most of my family is still there.”
Hijazi graduated from Canyon High School in New Braunfels, finishing in the top five of her class as a member of the National Honors Society and having lettered in soccer three years, earning both Academic All-District and Academic All-State.
The first-year midfielder is a Pre-Med Biochemistry and Biology major. Her father, Samer Hijazi, is a professor at Texas Lutheran University in the Department of Math, Computer Science, and Information Systems.
Though Rhoda is only about an hour drive from her parents and home, her mind is never far from a war-torn community half a world away.
In 2013, her father developed a virtual classroom to help teach mostly high school-aged children in Syria. Rhoda assists by volunteering her time to help the students in subjects like Biology or Algebra I.
“It’s hard for a lot of kids there. They don’t have the opportunities to seek things they’re passionate about with the things going on over there right now,” Hijazi said. “[Working with them] obviously puts my life in perspective. There’s not much I can do about the situation but this program offers something for some students who are going through things we can’t even imagine.”
The only cost students are asked to pay for the virtual classrooms is a request to pay it forward with community service, from helping a family less fortunate to visiting with the elderly.
It’s a request Hijazi follows through with herself, volunteering with several youth soccer organizations and nursing homes at home in New Braunfels and preparing to work with Meals on Wheels in Georgetown.
“I’ve always been impressed with her work ethic, always striving to be the best she can be in a very positive way,” Head Coach Linda Hamilton said. “She’s a very, very good teammate who’s always encouraging her teammates. She’s really been brought up with a breadth of experience and I admire her capacity to want to give back.”
Rather than think of all that might have been, Hijazi makes her mark on the world thinking about how to change things moving forward.
“Knowing everything my parents had to go through to get here, I’m grateful for the things I’ve been given,” Hijazi said. “Anything I can do to give back, just to put that back on those who’ve been less fortunate, has really been amazing to me.”