As Syracuse traveled south toward Philadelphia for a 2019 spring tournament, rain water leaked through the roof and into the team bus, dripping onto the players and coaches.

The bus came to a halt and Laura Graziosi searched for anything to seal the hole. The sophomore found a trash bag and athletic tape. She draped the bag around the hole and slapped tape around the edges of the bag — stopping the leak for the rest of the four-hour bus ride.

“Everyone was joking, ‘Oh the engineer,’” Graziosi’s roommate Sasha Bull said. “We always say if anything breaks, she can fix it.”

Graziosi, a mechanical engineering major, has built a reputation on No. 14 Syracuse (7-2, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) for being handy and technical. As a midfielder and penalty stopper for the Orange, she’s tallied four assists, tied for fifth in the ACC. In order to maintain success on and off the field, Graziosi utilizes a strict regimen to stay on top of her school work, which often requires over three hours of studying per day.

“The most important part is planning,” Graziosi said.

A native of The Hague, Netherlands, she graduated from Haags Montessori Lyceum on a rigorous six-year path designated for students who wish to study science at a research university. In high school, she completed her STEM homework before social sciences — she’s always done the homework she liked before the assignments she didn’t.

Graziosi said she’s aware that her major is far more strenuous than other student-athletes. Still, she elected not to pick an easier major to take courses she enjoyed.

“I did mechanical because it’s more general than the others. The other engineers are already on like a track,” Graziosi said.

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When Graziosi first arrived in America, Bull said she had trouble balancing school and playing for SU field hockey. The daily practices and demand of playing for an ACC contender combined with a laborious major made it difficult to find time to relax.

Last spring, the Orange took “accountability classes,” Bull said, and spent time together in study groups, regardless of major. There, with her teammates, Graziosi learned the value of planning.

Every Sunday this semester, Graziosi plots out her week in her orange planner printed with “Syracuse” on the front. She writes down when she has practice, what assignments, quizzes or exams are due that week and when she needs time to relax. If there’s an away game, she plans around that, often doing homework on the bus.

When Graziosi gets home from afternoon practices, she goes more in depth with her plans. She’ll outline each hour of the night: When she’s going to eat, study and de-stress.

“Discipline, planning, practice and reviewing … that was a learning curve for her,” head coach Ange Bradley said. “It’s time management and it’s knowing what your priorities are.”

She often wakes up at 8 a.m. — hours before her classes start — and rides the bus to the Stevenson Educational Center for Student-Athlete Development, an area in Manley Field House with computer labs, tutor and conference rooms for student-athletes.

While others may opt to stay home or switch majors, Graziosi is content making these sacrifices. For her, it’s worth it to be able to play field hockey while also preparing for life after her field hockey career is over.

Graziosi applies her problem-solving to Syracuse’s penalty corners on the field. As a stopper, Graziosi is tasked with handling the insert pass and deciphering the defense, deciding whether to distribute a pass or shoot directly.

Said Graziosi: “[Engineering] is sort of like solving a puzzle.”

Published on October 1, 2019 at 10:34 pm

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