Hillary Reser

Hillary Reser is a junior guard for the women's basketball team. She recently sat down with 'Prince' staff writer Shani Moore.

Prince: What do you like most about playing basketball at Princeton?

Hillary Reser: Definitely the team. It's fun to win, if you win, but that's not my favorite part. It's really like the old cliche — you won't remember if you won or lost a game, or the shots that you missed, or how many points you scored, but you will remember practices, and what people say after the game, and joking around in the locker room.

P: How is playing ball different for you in college than it was in high school?

HR: In college, you definitely have to take more pleasure in the smaller things because it's more of a job. You can't count on winning anymore. Little things, like private jokes on the court and bus rides home become more important.

P: How do you manage to balance sports and school?

HR: My social life suffers because I definitely can get anal about my work. Playing sports, you also learn that you can't waste time. Like, during the spring I can [mess] around most of the time and still get more work done than I do during the winter.

P: What would you be doing if your weren't playing sports?

HR: I would definitely do more with my drumming, maybe start a band. Hopefully I can start a punk girl band, but Ted Liao is my guitarist, so that might not work. He foils the plans [laughs]!

P: How else would you spend your time?

HR: I would also want to do more with the Pride Alliance, because you know I am the social chair now.

P: Is it OK if I put that in the article?

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HR: No, it's not. Like I am even close to being in the closet (laughs)!

P: If there is one thing you could change about Princeton, what would it be?

HR: Well, I guess I could talk about the whole gay thing. I definitely wish there were a bigger gay community here. It's not like everyone is closeted, but I feel like there are a lot of views that aren't expressed. I also wish that the community were more involved with the University, and that we lived in more of a city atmosphere.

P: So, basically you wish that this was Brown?

HR: Yeah, basically (laughs).

P: Do you ever wish that you had stayed closer to Oregon?

HR: No. I'll probably end up living on the west coast during my old age anyway, so I'm glad that I got away for a little bit. Plus, I met people who had completely different experiences and come from different places.

P: What are you going to do after graduation?

HR: Oh, God, I have no idea. My ultimate goal is to head my own independent music label. I would like to teach too, but I don't want to do it and feel like it was a major cop-out because I was too much of a coward to pursue music. I don't know . . . I have my whole life to decide what I want to do with my life, why worry about it now?

P: What are you going to take away from Princeton when you graduate next year?

HR: That very valuable degree. The name is definitely nice (laughs). And I guess I've learned a lot here, too, and become more independent. When I first came here, I always had this lingering fear that I was only here because I was an athlete. But I have totally proven to myself now that I can hack it. And I know it sounds totally cliche, but I totally have the confidence that if I can get through this place, I can make it anywhere else.