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Trips to India, Tanzania and the Domini‑ can Republic opened her eyes to being thank‑ ful and appreciative of her blessings and how both become a part of one's character. "Africa was crazy because you felt you were in a completely different place," she added. "It's so hard to describe because it's so different there. You become thankful for everything you have. The people are so joy‑ ful. They have nowhere to sleep and nothing to eat, but they have so much joy. They deal with so much but are so happy every single day. "I think that is one of the things that I took away from it. There are people that have nothing, but are so happy. We complain about stupid things here." What's interesting is Tata takes the expe‑ rience of watching others be thankful and joyful for everything and has been able to translate that to her teammates after a rough 2‑3 start for the 14th‑ranked Hoos. "I think that's almost amazing that we've had a hard start," Tata said. "Every other year that I've been here it's been like we've won nine, 10 games in a row and then all of a sudden we'd lose and not know how to deal with that; to manage it. Now for the first time we've managed losing at the start and that is so awesome." Tata said the struggles helped the team come together and appreciate the ensuing two weeks, when the Hoos won four of five contests with their lone loss coming to fifth‑ ranked Connecticut. "You can really grow from the struggles, develop and work on the things we need because it's hard to see what you're doing wrong when you're winning all of the time," she added. She's also been able to encourage the first‑ year players who were frustrated with the early season losses. "They're all experiencing this for the first time and they're down," Tata said. "We've been on the opposite side when we were first‑years and winning everything. Look what that got us. One year, we weren't even invited to the NCAA Tournament and we won nine games in a row at the beginning of the season. "Now we have this opportunity to really learn from what we're doing and be grateful for a game we've lost and got beat up com‑ pletely. When the tournament comes around, we're prepared." It all goes back to Tata's passion to take deep dives into everything she's involved with be it politics, history, mission work, field hockey or fashion design. Fashion is where Tata wants to work after graduation. "I either want to work for a big‑time maga‑ zine or be a buyer/seller for a big company like Nordstrom or Saks Fifth Avenue. I've always loved fashion and writing about it, the business aspects." "The funny thing is I would try to de‑ sign when I was younger, but I wasn't very good," she said. "But I loved watching how things evolved. I think it has a little bit to do with history because I do love watching how things evolve and then how things go back. How things can be so relevant right now and then go back to past ways." Asked why she chose history over com‑ merce or marketing, Riley's answer proves she does have a non‑analytic side. "I knew I wanted to pick a major I would really enjoy going to class every day," she explained. "With all of the books you have to buy, all of the effort you have to put into these classes, why not do something you love?" ◆