This post was updated Oct. 24 at 10:46 p.m.

Dalvík, Iceland, and Los Angeles are about 4,000 miles apart and have a nearly 3,820,000-person difference in population.

Exchange LA with Westwood, and the difference is still nearly 50,000 people.

“The whole country is the size of Anaheim in population,” said graduate student forward Sveinn Hauksson. “And it’s so different. We have our own currency. So it would be like Anaheim would have its own currency.”

Hauksson’s athletic and educational journeys brought him to UCLA men’s soccer and the Anderson School of Management, all the way from the Icelandic Premier League and the University of Iceland. And whether it’s currency, daylight or style of play, Hauksson has embraced a myriad of differences.

Hauksson is one piece of a recently established pipeline of Icelandic players relocating to the United States to compete in the NCAA. Hauksson connected with UCLA via an agency – founded by a former Icelandic player – that helped him put together a recruiting profile.

“I was fortunate because I’m a grad student, and I had experience from the highest league in Iceland that I got some nice schools,” Hauksson said. “And as soon as UCLA was one of them, I kind of had decided.”

Coach Ryan Jorden said he and his coaching staff saw Hauksson play in a number of quality games and with input from outside sources, decided he would be a good fit for UCLA.

Jorden added that Hauksson’s skills beyond the pitch were encouraging when the Bruins were looking to grow their roster.

“You walk down the road and see: Is it the right type of person? Is it the right football standard? Is it the right fit for us on a bunch of different fronts?” Jorden said. “And so was really pleased about him. He’s such an incredible guy and just really glad for his personality in our team.”

Hauksson was born in Dalvík, a village with a population of about 1,400 people. When he was 15, he moved to attend junior college – this time in a town of about 20,000 people. In 2020, he began playing for Knattspyrnufélag Akureyrar in the Icelandic Premier League.

Soccer in Iceland has long been a popular activity and was officially organized by the founding of the Football Association of Iceland in 1947. In 2016, Iceland made a deep run in the Men’s UEFA European Championship – the first it had competed in – beating England 2-1 to earn a quarterfinal appearance. And in 2018, Iceland competed in its first FIFA Men’s World Cup.

“I remember I watched the game (against England) with my friends. I was probably 14 or 15, and I swear I saw tears in my friends’s eyes when we beat them,” Hauksson said. “That also sparked a lot more, at least in my life, respect for Icelandic football. I used to only watch the English Premier League, but after that, I really started paying attention to the Iceland League and Icelandic players.”

In Iceland, school and soccer barely overlap, with college following a traditional American timeline and soccer running through the summer. So, for Hauksson, mixing the two as a graduate student is new territory.

However, Hauksson said the two have meshed well together at UCLA.

“The school very much takes into the account how student athletes, how their life is,” Hauksson said. “At least for me, even though I’m in the grad school, both parties – both the athletics department and the academics – I feel like they’re working together, and both of them understand if I have collisions and are willing to help me about it.”

The biggest difference for Hauksson has been the sun – from the comparable warmth to the considerably steadier light and darkness in LA.

“Everything is so much easier here with lifestyle. You wake up in the morning and it’s sunshine and it’s hot, and you go to sleep and it’s actually dark outside, so you can go to sleep straight away,” Hauksson said. “Iceland, the winter is dark the whole time, almost. And over the summer, we have almost 23 hours of sunlight. So I feel like just mentally and physically, it’s easier to live here.”

The sun’s schedule affected everyday life in Iceland – leaving Hauksson little to do beside soccer, which in turn made him a better player.

Hauksson said he believes the sun contributes to an overall more courteous atmosphere in LA – strangers almost never say hello to each other in Iceland.

“There is a cultural difference between Iceland and here, and it was in a good way. I’m pretty sure it’s because of the sunshine,” Hauksson said. “If I was from the U.S. and going to Iceland, I think that would be much more of a shock than it was for me to come here because I felt like everybody was coming to talk to me at first, and I felt like I didn’t really have to grind as much as I would have had to do in Iceland to make new connections and make friends.”

U.S. collegiate soccer – with more substitutions and younger players – has a faster pace of play than its professional Icelandic counterpart. But as one of the oldest Bruins on this year’s roster, Hauksson is also one of the most experienced.

Fellow graduate student transfer midfielder Edrey Caceres said his new teammates have invited recent additions such as himself and Hauksson into the fold, respecting the advice they bring.

“We were welcomed by the older guys, especially by the whole team. As soon as I got here, I felt like I was part of the team, and that played a big part in adapting quick, especially (for) Sveinn, coming from Iceland,” Caceres said. “The whole group has done a great job bringing the whole group together, especially the new players.”

Hauksson said he’s leaving all options open for the future, whether that’s a chance to play professionally in the U.S. or utilizing his master’s degree.

But for now, he’s hoping to take advantage of his time as a Bruin, whether that’s spending time exploring with his friends, winning games or growing as a person.