Over the spring and summer, we will be profiling members of the Eastern Kentucky soccer team. First up: senior Cassie Smith.

RICHMOND, Ky. – Senior forward Cassie Smith, a public health major from Ashburn, Virginia, is one of the most decorated offensive players in EKU soccer history. She enters her final season three goals and two assists shy of the program records in those respective categories.
 
… And every time Cassie outsprints a defender for a goal, or threads a pass to a teammate for a score, she has a truly humongous fan base cheering her on.
 
Cassie Smith: I have 40-plus first cousins and 20-something aunts and uncles combined over both families. My dad has seven siblings and my mom has 11. Included in that family are

people of Thai, Chinese, Native American, Filipino, and Puerto Rican descent.
 
EKUSports: What are family get-togethers like?
 
CS: We eat a lot. With such a large and diverse family, I grew up eating all different kinds of ethnic foods: Filipino, Middle Eastern, Greek, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Indian, German …
 
ES: Which type food is your favorite?
 
CS: Probably Filipino.
 
ES: Are there any Filipino restaurants in Richmond?
 
CS: … No. There actually aren't many around, in general. There isn't even one where I live in Virginia (Ashburn is only 45 minutes outside of Washington, D.C.).
 
ES: How do you get your Filipino food fix, then?
 
CS: At family get-togethers. My mom and my aunts can make it.
 
ES: Do you like having such a large family?
 
CS: The family get-togethers are huge, but they're a lot of fun. There's a ton of food and you get to hang out with everyone, and even if you don't like someone you don't have to see them because there are so many other people around! But it's definitely a lot of a fun. I wouldn't change it. I couldn't imagine having a small family. There's literally someone in every age group. I have four cousins that are my age. The youngest cousin is nine and the oldest is around 40.