Early Life
WEST BABYLON
I grew up in West Babylon, New York. I started playing soccer at around 5 years old and I honestly loved it. My mom and dad were both athletes throughout their lives and soccer was one of the major connections that brought them together. Looking back on how little I was and my perspective on things now, I really should not have enjoyed it as much as I did. I am way too organized now and when you’re little and play sports; pee-wee soccer is the farthest thing from organized.
I went to Babylon High School and I played a full four years at a varsity level. Every year I received all conference and all county but never got passed the first round of playoffs/states. Being able to be a part of high school soccer has its ups and downs but that level of soccer will never compare to your club team.
With my travel team, we traveled everywhere on the east coast to play. Our coach was so crazy that when it came to tournaments, he would put two teams into the bracket and have us play eight games in one weekend. Looking back on it, I wouldn’t have traded it for anything in the world. To the sleepless nights in hotel rooms to getting yelled at by hotel staff, I have no regrets about anything.
College Life
ARCADIA UNIVERSITY
When it came to picking colleges, I was so overwhelmed. I knew what I wanted my major to be, which is physical therapy, but so many schools offer that degree. I emailed Arcadia University because of their success within the program. I initially was not even interested in attending the school but my travel coach, Chris Roche, told me that him and the coach at Arcadia were friends. I also had seen that they had the top 20 physical therapy program in the nation.
At first before I committed to Arcadia, I was verbally committed to Ithaca in upstate New York for a long time. When it came to my time, it was really hard to balance everything and was sometimes really overwhelming. However, I think I did well in school because of having soccer all the time. Knowing that 3 hours out of my day were for soccer, it made me do my work whenever I had the chance instead of putting off homework and procrastinating projects.
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Video Cite: ArcadiaKnights YouTube
Future Life
ORTHOPEDIC PHYSICAL THERAPIST
Knowing that I will never get the chance to compete in a sport competitively again is the most devastating aspect of losing this sport. For as long as I can remember, I have been constantly playing this sport.
I was recently accepted into the masters and doctorate program at Arcadia for physical therapy so that is what I will be doing when I graduate from my undergraduate program in May. Being a part of a team made me more responsible and social. It also really helped with my time management. Being on a team also coordinates with physical therapy because you end up becoming the trainer to your teammates with helping them stretch and figure out what’s wrong with their bodies.
My ultimate goal in life is to be an orthopedic physical therapist. I would love to be able to work closely with sports teams. I like being able to think about helping athletes and making sure they get back onto the field safely.