01 OC Mag 01-24

“Here at Northwestern, because
of the growing racial and ethnic diversity,
we can spend time getting to
know other people’s cultures through
personal engagement and getting to
know our neighbors,” Draayer said.
For international students, there
are many American “culture shocks”
to experience. Food, language phrases
and certainly the weather.
Alessio experienced true Midwestern
living during the winter of 2021,
where he found temperatures so brutally
cold, he considered transferring.
“I didn’t even know it could get that
cold in a place that was not the North
Pole or the South Pole,” he said.
Junior forward Alejandro Ruiz experienced
similar differences when two
American teammates, Nikko Helderop
and Riley Aarbo, visited his hometown
of Valencia, Spain, over winter break
in 2022. Valencia reaches highs of 60
degrees in its coldest months, so Ruiz
watched his teammates walk down the
streets in shorts and hoodies while locals
dressed in thick jackets and gloves.
“For people in my hometown, that
weather is cold, you know? But for
them, it was like fall,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz transferred to Northwestern
after his freshman year at Hannibal-
La Grange University in Missouri.
His first year at Northwestern was
difficult, and he did not see the playing
time he wanted. Ruiz dealt with
the frustration through forming close
friendships with his teammates, helping
him see the game as a source of
fun community instead of stress.
This past season, he started every
game, becoming one of Northwestern’s
key players.
“Of course, we’re focused on soccer,
but we’re playing for fun,” Ruiz said.
“This year was like playing soccer with
friends instead of teammates.”
The team’s inclusive culture is
something that helps the Raiders
stand out on and off the soccer pitch.
“If you come to Northwestern,
you’re going to automatically be included
in our brotherhood,” Swier
said. “Every person has value. Every
person has a story, and nobody’s story
is wrong. It’s who you are, and the day
you come here, we welcome you as
you are.”
The team has been through plenty
of ups and downs together. Following
their success in the 2021 season, they
entered fall of 2022 full of confidence,
only to have Alessio, a key player and
captain, tear his ACL in the second
day of training camp. Losing Alessio
was a crushing loss for the team from
which the Raiders never fully recovered,
and they underperformed. But
Swier said it was more than just what
happened on the field; the team’s
mindset that year also struggled.
In the offseason, team members
came up with three new “program
pillars” to motivate them to be strong
players and strong teammates. Swier
said the players compete hard in
practice but step off the field as best
friends that celebrate each other’s
wins. This atmosphere strengthens
the team, so much so that Swier contributes
some of the Red Raiders’ success
to it.
“They had these relationships,” he
said. “The winning was just a byproduct
of that.”
38 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2024