Love is an essential human emotion that all of us experience in various ways throughout our lives. Everyone spends their whole life searching for their true love, and some, if any, are lucky enough to find it. I was one of the fortunate few who discovered my one true, first, and only love in the sport of soccer. I first fell in love with it when I was 4. The passion, the competition, and the energy added something to my life that I had never experienced before. Growing up in the sport and maturing over time, my love for it deepened, and I grew closer to the teammates I met along the way. The sport provided me with the opportunity to meet the people who would shape me into the person I am today. I met some of my closest and best friends, who taught me the important lesson of teamwork and collaboration in order to achieve the ultimate goal of winning.
My love for soccer helped me become confident and disciplined in everything I did. The countless hours of practice not only allowed me to succeed on the field but also off the field. Assignments and studying for tests became similar to preparing for games and practices. Soccer slowly became my everything. Everything I did was about soccer. I thought about it constantly, daydreamed about being on the field, and went to sleep every night eager for my next opportunity to play. Soccer was an obsession because it allowed me to be my true self. I could express my emotions on the field, whether I was struggling in school or facing challenges in my life. If something was bothering me, I could go onto the field and get it all out. The scent of freshly cut grass, the chatter of my teammates in the background, and the feeling of my cleats striking the field cleared my mind.
Then in one moment I lost all, my love had been ripped from me in one moment. It was my last club game ever, I wanted to go out and give it all. Warming up I was so sad and nostalgic at the same time, I had spent the day reminiscing about the past and my countless memories that I formed with my love for soccer. I wanted to experience all the passion and intensity one last time for just one more day and remind myself why this sport made me fall in love with it. Towards the end of the game I was suddenly put in, colliding with the girl was nothing out of the normal, it felt odd though, wrong place wrong time it seemed like. When I tried to get up I knew what had happened. Suddenly I couldn't move at all, the adrenaline that was once in my veins had suddenly been flushed out. In a rush and a blur I was taken to the hospital and I didn’t process what had just occurred, I still haven’t to this day in all honesty.
Instead of proving myself in my last season on the high school varsity team, a dream I had since freshman year, I had to watch from the sidelines as I was replaced. This injury didn’t just take away my sport; it took a part of me. As I processed this loss, I reconsidered who I was without soccer. Beyond being an athlete, I am a friend, a sister, a leader, and a student. These roles, which had been overshadowed by my dedication to soccer, became more central in my life. As a student who had never had a grade below a B, I reflected on how I had allowed soccer to consume me. With my time off, I learned to plan ahead and focus more on my academics, improving my grades and my involvement in school activities.
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