Ever since I can remember, soccer has been my whole personality. What is your favorite thing to do? Soccer. What do you want to be when you grow up? A soccer player. I wanted my whole life to be soccer. So when I turned 13, I started to get asked about college. 

So many young female soccer players dream of playing in college and even make it to the TV one day. They don’t really understand that it isn’t that easy. When I was that young, all I had to do was get dressed, mom drove me to practice and then I kicked a ball into the goal. But now you aren’t playing 7v7 and trying to impress your parents, you are trying to impress college coaches which is when the stress starts to set in and your dream starts to become a reality. 

I started going to collegiate ID camps starting in 8th grade. I would play against 5 ‘8, 140 lb, 18 year old girls, while only being 4 ‘10, 85 lbs, at the ripe age of 13. You can only imagine how that went. But looking back, it prepared me for the physical challenge of always playing against girls bigger than me that kept growing. But it also prepared me for the mental blocks that not only me, but so many athletes face, which gives me a one-up. 

The countless emails, graphics and phone calls made was just the start of a very difficult process. So many athletes are trying to achieve the same dream of playing in college, and the honest truth of it is, only 10-11% of female soccer players will achieve that very dream. People start comparing themselves to others, thinking they aren’t good enough, or that they don’t deserve to play in college, which makes them rethink the whole love for their sport they have played their whole life. 

My biggest accomplishment in my life has been to be a part of the 10-11% and to get the opportunity to play college soccer. Not only just college, but also at the Division l level for The University of Northern Iowa. I made the little me proud and that’s all I could ask for. My biggest piece of advice? As much as the process is mentally draining and confusing, it will all work out for you. Any level, any school, just trust the process.