Former screen star takes the ice for the Tigers

Acting and playing hockey aren't two activities that are usually mentioned in the same breath. But for the women's ice hockey team's freshman forward Caroline Park, they are both part of her repertoire. She has appeared on the popular Canadian TV shows "Degrassi: The Next Generation" and "Naturally, Sadie." Park is also an extremely talented hockey player, having scored 51 points with her junior hockey team, the Mississauga Junior Chiefs, during her senior year of high school. That means that her name can be found on the Internet Movie Database as well as on the Princeton hockey website.

The ice has always been part of Park's life. She began playing hockey at age 8 and has excelled ever since. Acting is a different story. Park discovered acting accidentally through an open audition for a cough medicine during high school.

"There was an open audition for this Robitussin commercial. They had an open call for hockey players ... and I ended up getting the principal part," Park said. "[After the commercial], the agent wanted to work with me," she added.

Though it started inauspiciously, Park's acting career quickly took off. Soon she had appeared in several other commercials and attracted the attention of several TV producers. Starting in 2005, she began to appear on "Degrassi" as Kim and "Naturally, Sadie" as Vivian. In all, she has appeared in 15 episodes. Pursuing both interests made high school tough for Park, as both required large time commitments.

"[Playing hockey and acting] was really tough because there was so much schoolwork, and the acting made me miss a lot of school," Park said. "I just had to manage my time really well and put my priorities first."

Perhaps unfortunately for Park, her acting skills do not really come in handy during hockey games. Unlike in soccer, where athletes regularly ham up injuries to draw red and yellow cards against the opposing team, hockey players cannot draw penalties as easily, she said. While referees may not be swayed by impressive performances, Park can take solace in the fact that she has become an integral part of the women's hockey team.

"Caroline adds hustle to the ice, character to the locker room and creativity up campus," head coach Jeff Kampersal '92 said in an email.

She scored the breakaway first goal in Princeton's 7-0 shellacking of Union last Saturday and has three assists on the season. Performances like that have earned her praise from Kampersal.

"Caroline is a grinder and is very coachable. Since [she] has arrived, she has worked hard in all phases of her game," Kampersal said.

And while many other students might have trouble choosing between their interests, Park's priorities are clear.

"For me personally, I love hockey. [It's] what comes first for me. If I had to choose between hockey or acting, I would definitely pick hockey," Park said.

While she was able to do both during high school, she said that she will not continue acting in college because of the time commitment involved with the hockey team and the intense academic rigor at the University.

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"Maybe later I'll pursue [acting], but now it's about hockey and school," she said.

Park is extremely talented in other realms as well. She speaks French and Korean fluently, and she played softball and basketball along with hockey during high school.

Sadly, the rest of the hockey team has not had a chance to see her acting abilities in full force. One might assume that the long bus rides to away games would have teammates starving for episodes of "Degrassi" or "Naturally, Sadie," but Park's face has yet to show up on the screen.

"I am not sure why, but we have to get on that," Kampersal said.