My Journey So Far

If you know me, you know that soccer has basically been my whole life. In this post, I'll give you a little bit of background on how I've gotten to where I am today. Hope you can keep up!

Let's start back at the very beginning (oh boy, here we go).

My mom and I have argued about this before... She thinks I started soccer at five, but I'm convinced I started when I was three. Truthfully, we don't really remember. #Soccer was always a big part of my life, but not the only thing I had on my plate. Growing up, my family was fully invested in athletics and it was only inevitable that I would be as well. Both of my sisters had experiences with multiple sports, but by the time I was born they decided to solely focus on softball. I was always traveling with them to their games as a kid, and was basically raised in the competitive #athletic environment.

Softball was where I followed my sisters, but I made sure that I followed my own trail.

Once I was old enough to be able to make some of my own decisions, I was involved in a ton of extracurricular activities. I was a student leader at my church, in a Girl Scouts troop (anybody else miss when their cookies were cheaper to buy?), enrolled in singing lessons, a softball player, and a soccer player. Yeah... I was pretty well-rounded, not going to lie. But as I got older and time became more valuable, I really had to choose what I wanted to focus all of my time and attention on. After a lot of discussions with my parents, I decided to pursue soccer competitively and full-time.

By the time I made this decision, I was 11 and was a little bit more behind than everybody else.

Eleven years old may not seem that old... but in the world of competitive athletics, I was behind. Many of the girls in competitive leagues had been going since they were eight and I really was lacking in any skill or knowledge of the game. My mom ensured me that if I try out multiple places, I would find somewhere. The first place I went to... I felt so out of place. I didn't end up making the cut and the coach explained that I was just not as advanced as the other girls. Feeling defeated, I moved onto the next team. I still remember feeling pretty clumsy out there. I didn't know any positions and I was struggling to even pass the ball. Thankfully, this coach pulled my mom aside and said something I will never forget:

"Your daughter clearly isn't the best, but I see some potential in her to be great someday."

Obviously, my mom didn't tell me that my coach said this to me until I was in college. I just thought I was good enough to make it. The fact that I even made a team boosted my confidence tremendously. I made it on our club's C team, but I still was so proud. I worked hard to prove my worth to the two higher teams. The A and B teams didn't know what they were missing, and I wanted to be the best.

Three years passed and I suddenly found myself invited to the A team.

At this time in my life, I was an angsty teen and cried every day leading up to my first practice. Something around that time killed my confidence, and I was always doubting my worth as a player. My mom thankfully forced me to practice with them, and I eventually felt welcomed. It wasn't always easy. Honestly, it rarely was easy to be on that team. I always felt like I was not as good as the other girls, and I constantly felt judged. I'm sure part of that has to do with the fact that every teenager thinks that others are always watching and judging you, but I truly believed that I wasn't supposed to be on the team.

I still continued to work hard, made some friends, and started to look at my future.

#College was coming up, and our team was getting a lot of scouts at each game we played. And by a lot... I mean about 90 college scouts a game. Talk about nerve-wracking. Our team was really good (we considered ourselves to be the best team in the country but never actually won the title), and each game we played was very exciting to watch. By the time I finished my freshman year of high school, I felt the pressure to find a college to commit to. First of all, it is really unfortunate that the stress of making a decision that early was even put on all of us, but we thought that it was normal. I talked to a couple of colleges, but fell in love with a medium-sized school in Arkansas.

Although my choice to commit to University of Central Arkansas was really early, I will never regret it.

Having a new place to go to was so exciting. The weather, culture, and environment were all different things for me to experience and I could not wait. I had the time of my life meeting new friends and really connecting with my team. I had a feeling I was there for a reason, but I didn't know why. Freshman year was tough. I had moved out to Arkansas during the hottest summer they have had in a while, and I was coming back from a concussion. I was not fit or prepared for preseason. It was stressful being in a new environment, but I soon got acquainted to my teammates and had a sense of belonging.

As the years passed, UCA helped me develop myself as a player tremendously.

Remember when I said I had a really tough time back when I was younger with my self confidence? Well that never really went away when I went to college. To be honest, I still struggle with it. However until I showed up to play soccer at UCA, I really didn't know that it was as crippling of a problem as it was. My mentality was a huge part of what go in the way of my athletic performance, and once I started to realize that I began to play better. College helped me work on developing a stronger mindset, and plant goals on how to improve each season. The lessons it gave me really paid off because once I was finished with my collegiate career I had broken multiple school records and received some pretty cool awards.

I recently just graduated, but my journey isn't done yet.

After my senior season, I didn't feel like I was supposed to close this part of my life quite yet. I decided to go into my future with an open mind and pursue professional soccer. I felt like if I could maybe make it this far after the crazy journey I have had, I could prove to others that your dreams really aren't impossible. So here I am, living out my dream... Not only just for me but for anybody else who needs some inspiration and encouragement. That's why I'm here writing this blog. I want to be able to help others who may be going through the same journey and tell them the struggles and accomplishments I had gone through.

Let me tell you right off the bat: it ain't easy.

But what's the fun in doing something in your life that is easy? I have to continue to push myself physically and mentally all the time, but it helps me develop myself for whatever comes at me in the future. I'm really excited to share all of this to you guys, honestly. I feel like I have learned a lot about staying mentally tough, and how to manage those really tough times you might encounter. If you're an athlete out there reading this, I'm here for you. I get it. And I want to help.

Join me through my #journey. See you soon!

"Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up." Romans 15:2