ITHACA, N.Y. - When Cornell football kicker Jonathan Roost lined up for his first career field goal attempt against Harvard, he expected the usual game-day atmosphere.

What he didn't expect was complete darkness.
 
"It was the start of the fourth quarter and they were still on a media break," Roost said. "Given we were playing at Harvard Stadium and they knew it was my first field goal attempt, they turned off all the lights in the stadium and started flashing bright red lights."
 
Then came Seven Nation Army, blasting through the speakers while the crowd went wild. A full minute of chaos. Then silence. Lights back on. Back to business.
 
The kick was good.
 
For a freshman from Australia who had only been attempting field goals for six weeks, the moment was surreal. But for Roost, it was also the realization of a dream that started when he was ten years old - playing Division I athletics in America.
 
"My Dad played Division I lacrosse so it was always my dream to follow in his footsteps and play a sport at that level," he said.
 
The path from Australian Rules Football to American football wasn't a straight line. Roost had been punting American footballs for about a year before arriving at Cornell, but field goals were entirely new territory. When he started working on place-kicking in early September, he was learning a skill from scratch while adjusting to a new country, a new sport, and the rigorous academic demands of an Ivy League education.
 
What drew Roost to Cornell wasn't just the opportunity to realize the dream of playing a sport at the Division I level, it was also about education. Majoring in Hotel Administration, The Nolan School of Hotel Administration provided a major draw for Roost to attend Cornell. With its unique focus on real estate, aligning perfectly with his career ambitions. It was the combination that made Cornell irresistible. World-class academics paired with the chance to compete at the highest level of college athletics.
 
But attending an Ivy League school and playing American football over 9,000 miles from home comes with its own challenges.
 
"Besides the fact that every conversation I have is about snakes, spiders and sharks, the biggest adjustment is definitely being so far away from home," Roost said. "Given it takes over 24 hours worth of plane rides to get home, being away from family is definitely the hardest thing I've had to adjust to."
 
He pauses, then adds: "With that in mind, I wouldn't change anything and I'm extremely grateful to be in the position that I'm in. Attending an Ivy League School and playing American Football is a dream come true."
 
The differences between Australian Rules Football and American football extend beyond just the field goal posts. In Australian Rules, throwing the ball isn't even allowed - players must kick or handball to advance. Now Roost is learning to throw an American football, just in case he gets called up for a fake field goal somewhere down the line.
 
"I'm starting to get the hang of it," he said.
 
Back at Harvard Stadium, after that first successful field goal, on national television to boot, the sideline erupted. The Roger J. Weiss '61 Head Coach of Cornell Football Dan Swanstrom was ecstatic, a reaction ESPN caught on camera.

After the game, Swanstrom pulled Roost aside before he headed into the locker room.
 
"He said that I had played well," Roost said.
 
But the best reaction came from 9,000 miles away. Roost's mother and two younger sisters were watching on TV back in Australia. Their celebration, captured on video, was pure joy translated across hemispheres and time zones.
 
"Honestly their reaction was the best," he said.
 
The 24-hour plane ride home will always be long. The questions about Australian wildlife will probably never stop. But for a kid from Australia who dreamed of following his father's footsteps into Division I athletics, who started kicking field goals just weeks before making one in front of thousands at Harvard Stadium and a national TV audience, the journey is exactly what he imagined.
 
As Roost continues to refine his craft, learning to throw, perfecting his kicks, and pursuing his studies, one thing is clear: the dream that started at ten years old is now his reality.
 
He's making the most of every moment, one kick at a time.