I have been playing soccer since I was 18 months old, playing club soccer since I was seven years old, and playing high school soccer for the past four years. The next four years I have also dedicated myself to soccer at Denison University in Ohio.

The past four years of soccer have been the most critical to me after a very rough season I had with my club freshman year. My former coach from my club team was exposed mid-season for inappropriate behavior exhibited towards the professional and youth players. This revelation was very alarming to my family and I alike that my coach had been doing this to other people, which took some of the love out of the sport for me.

However, making varsity my freshman year at South helped me fall in love with the sport again, convincing me I wanted to play college soccer. Being an underclassman on the team taught me how to observe the role of leadership, so I could learn and be a leader on the team one day myself.

I dedicated a lot of my sophomore and junior years to recruiting, which consisted of constantly emailing coaches and visiting schools. My recruiting process was filled with anxiety and excitement. I was talking to multiple schools at once, and overall I was conflicted because I really wanted to study abroad. Almost all of the schools I talked to did not allow me to study abroad for an entire semester. The only option for me to be able to study abroad was to play Division III.

I got an offer from Denison University in Ohio in May last year and committed in mid-July of last year. Their head coach joined the team three years ago and I felt very welcomed by the entire coaching staff right when I stepped on campus.

I am planning on studying abroad in Italy, Spain, and Germany during my junior year. I am majoring in global commerce and want to work as a financial manager.

I am looking forward to the next four years of soccer at Denison; however, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t had its ups and downs.

My biggest piece of advice to anyone who is considering playing a sport in college is to explore all your options and choose where you would like to go regardless if you’re playing a sport or not.