Crisera Attacks the Books, Boards

Monday afternoon. Senior Catherine Crisera, a captain of the women's basketball team, is relaxing in her fifth floor room in Eliot's Hentry. The gold dome of Kirkland House stands sentinel outside the window, as a few thin rays are permitted to pass. Miles Davis and Quincy jam live at Montreux on the CD player.

The room says a lot about Crisera. A California state flag hangs in a corner: she's from San Francisco. A wall covered with pictures of babies and children's art announces that she loves kids. Ruth Orkin's poster of "An American Girl in Italy" is plastered to another wall: she's Italian-American.

But the room suggests more, beyond the obvious signifiers. It's organized, but not fanatically so. Like Crisera, a balance is struck between discipline and spontaneity. Books lie on the floor; toiletries are scattered on top of dresser.

"You can look at everything in two ways," Crisera says. "I love to challenge myself, to test myself and see what I can do. But at the same time it's fun. I can pretty much find something rewarding in everything I make myself try.

"I think it's important and healthy to see both sides of anything--of school, of basketball, of a job, of relationships with friends. There is serious side, but at the same time, if you can't get some fun out of it and entertain yourself, you'll go crazy."

Her literature thesis is a good example. She's actually enjoying it. Having to Monday classes, she has spent the morning analyzing Hemingway's construction of the hero as outlined in his posthumous work, The Garden of Eden.

"It's pretty cool because my whole theory is that this last book pretty much hands us (or me at least) the tools for decoding what a Hemingway hero is. Because the guy is defi- nitely not one at the beginning; at the end, heis, Even though the book is unfinished, it's allabout the trial and development of a man. My nextstep is to 'How to Be a Hero Theory' and look atFor Whom The Bell Tolls and The Sun Also Rises."

A sketch of Hemingway hangs opposite her desk.A friend of her father's dashed it off in a hotelbar in the Spain in the 1950s. Hemingway washaving a drink. He took it over to have it signed.On a piece of hotel stationery a florid hand haswritten "From the Old Man." Once a spontaneousact, it now serves to motivate her.

"For chapters, four weeks," she repeats.

It's due on the Ides of March.

From her room, you'd never know she was acaptain of the basketball team, or that the teamhas had a dreadful 5-14 season. Basketball is justanother one of Crisera's passions--liketwentieth-century modern literature, journalism(last summer she interned at CNN and hopes to gointo broadcast news), or children.

"There's like the '12 faces of CatherineCrisera' I think. This year I've reached the pointwhere everything is in perspective. I don't getstressed out all the time about school, aboutbasketball, about finding a job--it's weirdbecause this is the one year where I probably havemore of an excuse to totally stress out. But I'vefinally reached the point where I know my work isgoing to get done."

Crisera is "methodically relaxed," as she putsit. She is active, but reflective, faithfullycommitting her thoughts in a journal. Thoughintense and competitive, she is not consumed withwinning.

On one hand she's able to say this: "In a gamelike basketball where you're in for only six toeight minutes at a time, I think you should pushyourself to complete and total exhaustion. It'sgreat feeling to find myself in that zone."

On the other, she can state:

"It's been a difficult year in terms of winsand losses. But this is the best team I've everplayed on, person for person, five on five. It'snot just on the court performance. It's chemistry,it's personality, and I don't think it would be aseasy to go through this 5-14 season with adifferent group of people. It's intangible why wehaven't been winning. It doesn't mean theexperience is all the worse, because I love toplay."

Crisera has to get to practice now. She'salways the first one there. At Briggs Cage shechanges out of her thesis clothes; navy bluesweater, white turtleneck, jeans and hoop earringsand dons her number 33 black shorts and graysweatshirt. She goes over to the training room.Shin splints and tendenitis in the knee needicing. The team travels to Princeton andPennsylvania this weekend. The Crimson has beenimproving lately, thanks in large part to Crisera.Last weekend they swept a series against Cornelland Columbia.

"Cat has continued to get more and moreeffective on the floor in the last seven or eightgames," Coach Kathy Delaney Smith says.

"She's really come on in the last seven oreight games," Smith adds. "Defensively, she's sucha smart player. For a stretch there, we didn'tfeel we had a forward who could score besidesTammy [Butler]. All of a sudden Catherine's makinggood decisions in the low post against the doubleteam, and dishing out. I'm very, very happy withwhat she's been doing this year."

Crisera's career is almost over, and she wishedshe had another year to take more lit classes, toadd Spanish to her repetoire of Romance languages(she speaks French and Italian fluently) and toplay more ball. But she is reconciled, balanced.

"I know that in a year I'll be doing the rightthing for me--whether it's law school, if it's ajob, or whatever.

A sketch of Hemingway hangs opposite her desk.A friend of her father's dashed it off in a hotelbar in the Spain in the 1950s. Hemingway washaving a drink. He took it over to have it signed.On a piece of hotel stationery a florid hand haswritten "From the Old Man." Once a spontaneousact, it now serves to motivate her.

"For chapters, four weeks," she repeats.

It's due on the Ides of March.

From her room, you'd never know she was acaptain of the basketball team, or that the teamhas had a dreadful 5-14 season. Basketball is justanother one of Crisera's passions--liketwentieth-century modern literature, journalism(last summer she interned at CNN and hopes to gointo broadcast news), or children.

"There's like the '12 faces of CatherineCrisera' I think. This year I've reached the pointwhere everything is in perspective. I don't getstressed out all the time about school, aboutbasketball, about finding a job--it's weirdbecause this is the one year where I probably havemore of an excuse to totally stress out. But I'vefinally reached the point where I know my work isgoing to get done."

Crisera is "methodically relaxed," as she putsit. She is active, but reflective, faithfullycommitting her thoughts in a journal. Thoughintense and competitive, she is not consumed withwinning.

On one hand she's able to say this: "In a gamelike basketball where you're in for only six toeight minutes at a time, I think you should pushyourself to complete and total exhaustion. It'sgreat feeling to find myself in that zone."

On the other, she can state:

"It's been a difficult year in terms of winsand losses. But this is the best team I've everplayed on, person for person, five on five. It'snot just on the court performance. It's chemistry,it's personality, and I don't think it would be aseasy to go through this 5-14 season with adifferent group of people. It's intangible why wehaven't been winning. It doesn't mean theexperience is all the worse, because I love toplay."

Crisera has to get to practice now. She'salways the first one there. At Briggs Cage shechanges out of her thesis clothes; navy bluesweater, white turtleneck, jeans and hoop earringsand dons her number 33 black shorts and graysweatshirt. She goes over to the training room.Shin splints and tendenitis in the knee needicing. The team travels to Princeton andPennsylvania this weekend. The Crimson has beenimproving lately, thanks in large part to Crisera.Last weekend they swept a series against Cornelland Columbia.

"Cat has continued to get more and moreeffective on the floor in the last seven or eightgames," Coach Kathy Delaney Smith says.

"She's really come on in the last seven oreight games," Smith adds. "Defensively, she's sucha smart player. For a stretch there, we didn'tfeel we had a forward who could score besidesTammy [Butler]. All of a sudden Catherine's makinggood decisions in the low post against the doubleteam, and dishing out. I'm very, very happy withwhat she's been doing this year."

Crisera's career is almost over, and she wishedshe had another year to take more lit classes, toadd Spanish to her repetoire of Romance languages(she speaks French and Italian fluently) and toplay more ball. But she is reconciled, balanced.

"I know that in a year I'll be doing the rightthing for me--whether it's law school, if it's ajob, or whatever.