Dinah Landshut ’12 came to Yale from Hamburg, Germany, and immediately stood out as a forward on the field hockey team. With six goals, Landshut is the season’s second-highest scorer. She is interested in studying international relations and her sports hero is Dennis Rodman. Here, she talks about why she loves team sports, life outside field hockey and Barack Obama.

QWhat has been your favorite thing about being on the team this season?

AJust being with the girls, because they are just the most amazing part of the team. They all bring their specific traits, their individual character to the team. It’s so much fun being with them all the time.

QAnything particularly memorable?

AWe had one night where one of the girls had a birthday. We all came together and had a surprise party for her. It really shows the unity of the team, how everyone takes care of that one person … And going out with the team is so much fun.

QWhat is it about field hockey that you like?

AI think field hockey is great because it’s a team spirit. You really need to know how to play with other people. You care about the different styles of people, how they play. You need to know that, and know how to play with them. You’re in the team. You have to fight for one another, you have to motivate one another. I think it’s a lot more fun if you can achieve something as a team and not as a single person.

QDid you play any other sports in high school?

A I did horseback riding for a year or something. But in Germany [field hockey] is very time consuming so there wasn’t really time. I basically played hockey since I was five.

QIs field hockey in Germany different than it is here?

AThe style is very different. We were playing more on the safe side. You wouldn’t play as riskily as we do here. Here we’re always trying to go forward, always trying to get the ball to the goal. In Germany you would play in a more reserved manner.

QAnd yet, you’re the second highest scorer this season. Clearly you’re an attacker.

AActually I’ve never been much of a scorer; this seems to have developed recently. It’s been good. It’s good to know that you’re doing something for the team.

QIs field hockey your only passion?

AHere, I would say that field hockey is my only passion because there’s just not that much time left because it’s really intense. But especially now that the season only has one week left, I’m really looking forward to exploring Yale more. What attracted me about Yale the most was the opportunity. Right now I can’t really benefit from that because there’s not enough time, so I’m really looking forward to that.

QHow do you think you’ve improved this season?

AI think we’ve been working a lot on our fundamentals and our communication. I think you can see that in our recent games. Even if someone made a mistake there was always someone around her to support her and get the ball back. And that did a lot for the most recent wins we had.

QDo you have any pregame rituals?

ABefore the game, I’m just trying to concentrate and am a little bit more serious.

QSo, when do you let loose?

AAfter the games usually. Because then all the tension is gone and you can really just let go.

QDo you miss home?

AYes, especially my family and friends. But I’m really happy that life is just very busy here, it’s so exciting. So that makes it better. If I had nothing to do, and life just wasn’t exciting, I’d probably be crying all day long … But my aunt and uncle live half an hour [from Yale], so they come to all my games and support me.

QIf you could vote, who would you vote for?

AI don’t know that much about the candidates, but I would definitely vote for Obama. I know about his foreign policies. I feel a lot more sympathy for him than for McCain.