Rachel Kho, a native of Canada, knows multiple languages along with being highly energetic on offense for Ohio.
If one was to put non-English subtitles in a movie, there’s a likely chance that Rachel Kho may be able to read them.
So far in her life, she’s learned to speak Indonesian from her parents, French during early childhood and adapted to speaking English with other students while at White Oaks Secondary.
Shockingly, she is also slowly learning Korean from her friends.
Although Kho, a freshman, grew up in Oakville, Ontario Indonesian heritage runs deep in Kho’s genealogy. Her mother hails from Jakarta, Indonesia and her father came to North America when he was fairly young. However, that hasn’t stopped Kho from broadening her knowledge of different societies.
“(My parents) definitely affected me more culturally because it’s made me more interested in learning other languages.” Kho said.
Kho said her favorite saying was the Indonesian phrase, “Saya memiliki” which translates to “I want to eat” to her “Oma”, or grandmother.
Her Oma, who at times struggles with English articulation, normally just speaks to her in their native tongue.
“Whenever I’m at home my Oma just takes such good care of me,” Kho said. “She does all the cooking and all the laundry, so when I’m home I’ll just be like ‘Oma, saya memiliki.”
During elementary school, Kho said she began learning French because of the Canadian school systems’ close ties to Quebec. According to Kho, she wasn’t given the opportunity to learn Spanish or German until later in post-secondary school, so she stuck with the French vocabulary.
“It is a change, it’s a different style. We emphasize different things (in Canada), but the culture it relatively the same,” said freshman Megan Silveira, who hails from Kitchener, Ontario. “There’s definitely some getting used to, at first.”
Silveira, who went to Resurrection Catholic Secondary, stated that she played against Kho in high school and knew of her before they were teammates on Ohio together. After joining the Bobcats this year, the two had to put their previous high school rivalry behind to help coach Neil Macmillan.
Over the course of eight games, both Canadian natives have played valuable minutes for the Bobcats. According to Macmillan, Kho’s fortitude has been immeasurable on the offensive side of the ball and Silveira scored the decisive goal in Ohio’s 1-0 win over Ohio State.
“(Kho) is just filled with so much energy,” Macmillan said. “She runs after the ball with great determination every single time, she tries really hard going forward and she’s playing the game with a very high paced. She is adapting to the speed of this game faster than anyone.
“Megan is a very solid player also and she came in last spring and she’s becoming very comfortable with our system. She’s giving us valuable minutes up front.”
Off the field, Kho has been recognized as a little shy and quiet from some of her teammates, but over the course of the season, she has become more vocal from her involvement on the field.
In Ohio’s shootout win over Mid-American Conference opponent Longwood, Kho played close to 70 minutes and was one of five Ohio shooters chosen to take penalty flicks.
Even though her play hasn’t reached it’s peak yet, the novelty of being a multi-international student-athlete may be her strongest suit over the next years.
“Obviously she’s new to the program and she’s a little quiet, but she’s come out of her shell a bit,” junior Adele Sammons said. “We’ve used her skills a lot when we play and hopefully she can get a little louder and her personality can come out soon.”
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