Pierce alumnus Sokratis Vasilas graduated in 2015, and continued to play semi-professional football, in the position of goalie for the Panathinaikos Youth Team. In April 2016, he received a scholarship offer from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) “to study in any field I wanted, and at the same time compete in the NCAA Division 1 with the university’s men’s soccer team,” our alumnus told us. “Upon acceptance, I chose to study Business with an emphasis on Management.”
On the occasion of this impressive athletic achievement, Sokratis was recently interviewed on youngtalents.gr along with his Greek teammate Dimitris Strantzalis. The two discuss their dreams and plans for the future, about being part of team, and about their experience studying abroad in a city with a vibrant Greek community!
Sokratis spoke to us about his overall experience of being a student-athlete, explaining “on the one hand, it’s a very high honor, but on the other hand it is also very demanding as it requires a lot of hard work and commitment. The UIC Flames represent the school in every athletic activity. So, every student-athlete, whether in a group or individual sports, works hard every single day to make our school proud. Knowing that I have earned this scholarship motivates me even more to work hard – on and off the field – to achieve my goals, and I feel that both the city of Chicago and UIC are environments that will help me to do just that!”
We wish our alumnus continued success in his academic and athletic career! The ACG community will be cheering him on from afar!
