Priscila Santiago takes a look at her graduation attire.

Priscila Santiago takes a look at her graduation attire.

<p>Priscila Santiago with Spartan teammates.</p>

Priscila Santiago with Spartan teammates.

<p>Priscila Santiago and her Lady Spartans soccer team.</p>

Priscila Santiago and her Lady Spartans soccer team.

<p>Union’s Priscila Santiago with friends. She will be attending Hollins University in Virginia.</p>

Union’s Priscila Santiago with friends. She will be attending Hollins University in Virginia.

<p>As a Spartan, Priscila Santiago was a member of the Beta Club and helped to co-found the Hispanic Leadership Club.</p>

As a Spartan, Priscila Santiago was a member of the Beta Club and helped to co-found the Hispanic Leadership Club.

<p>Priscila Santiago with friends.</p>

Priscila Santiago with friends.

<p>Santiago</p>

Santiago

This weekend’s edition of our Senior Spotlight segment revisits Union High School and multisport athlete Priscila Santiago.

Santiago excelled in the gym on the volleyball court as well as out on the soccer field for her Lady Spartans. As summer is quickly approaching, graduations taking place, and is life slowly moving closer to some sense of normal, Santiago is accepting that the high school era is soon to be concluded. The Independent caught up with Santiago, who provided reaction on the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as offered up some insight into what comes next for this distinguished Union student-athlete.

Having played all four years of varsity soccer, her senior season was barely underway when the pandemic brought everything to a halt. Disappointment was undoubtedly, and understandably, just one of many expressions Santiago said she experienced.

“COVID-19 came very unexpectedly and brought a lot of negative impacts to our community,” she said. “Many students, like myself, were very disappointed on how our spring season ended, knowing that this would be our last year ever to participate in high school.”

Santiago also displayed an understanding side, though, acknowledging that public safety and the well-being of the student-athletes were of utmost importance.

“The health of our community is much more important and with that also came the closures of schools and businesses, which caused some people unemployment due to being either sensitive to the virus or their job being closed. But time will pass, and things will hopefully get back to ‘normal,’” she said.

And speaking of school closures, it was a double-whammy for Santiago who not only lost her senior athletic season, but also the possibility of finishing out her senior year of high school with her friends and classmates. That, too, also brought devastation.

“When Governor Cooper cancelled school for the remainder of the year, I was devastated,” she admitted. “Even if school did cause a lot of headaches most of the time, I enjoyed being there and seeing my teachers and friends. I was especially sad due to it being my senior year and not being able to enjoy the last few months we had there.”

Fortunately, Santiago says she has found ways to keep herself occupied and she hasn’t totally gone without seeing her friends.

“Right now, I am currently working and even if I can’t see my friends all the time, I do keep in contact with them and checkup with them to see if they are doing well.”

Her time as a Union Spartan was certainly time well-spent. Her resume speaks of someone that was just as much a competitor in the classroom as much as she was on the field. Santiago was a member of the Beta Club and helped to co-found the Hispanic Leadership Club. Her accomplishments in the classroom also helped earn her a scholarship opportunity in which she is proud.

“I was fortunate enough to receive the Simple Gifts Scholarship which gives me the chance to study out of state,” she explained. “I will be attending Hollins University in Virginia and will be majoring in mathematics. I will also be playing on the Women’s Soccer team.”

Speaking of soccer, Santiago twice earned MVP honors as well as the title of captain for the Lady Spartans. Reflecting on her time at Union, Santiago expressed that she loved every moment of it and is truly going to miss the good times she had.

“I am going to miss all the great teachers at Union and the people I met along the way. The best thing that happened to me was this year when we started soccer season and I became captain of the team and even if it did last very little it was great while it lasted,” she recalled. “I also met really great friends in high school.”

Now, with graduations underway, Santiago is preparing to take the next step into a new chapter of her life as she faces potential relocation to Roanoke, Virginia where Hollins University is located. In an update posted to the university’s website on May 4, it was announced that the university is planning to open on schedule, though these plans are subject to change.

With a rock-solid foundation and a bright future ahead of her, Santiago wanted to give a shout-out of praise to those who have impacted her life.

“I want to thank my parents for always supporting me in sports and academics and always making time to come to school events and even making time to pick me up from practices,” she began. “All of my high school coaches who always pushed me to do my best and taught me how to be a good leader. Finally, all of my friends who made my high school years the most memorable years of my life.”

Reach Sports Editor Daron Barefoot at [email protected].