Finding Hope in Uncertainty

I know my moment is coming.

That thought alone has helped keep me sane in a year full of so many uncertainties. My soccer debut for the University of Nebraska has been put on ice twice now due to Covid-19.

Ever since I was a child, there’s been nothing I’ve wanted more than putting on that Husker jersey and stepping onto the field to compete as a Division I athlete.

I even graduated from high school five months early to turn that dream into a reality. But who would have ever imagined this reality? There really is no preparation for a pandemic that forces the entire country to shut down.

But God always has a plan, and I can only hope that something good comes out of this. I have to believe everything happens for a reason, and things will eventually work out as long as I keep the faith. 

 

Becoming a Husker

 

Being a Christian has helped me cope with adversity over the last few years. And trust me, there’s been plenty of it.

I tore my ACL in high school before signing with Nebraska and was forced to undergo season-ending surgery. It was basically a soccer player’s worst nightmare. You always hear about those injuries, but at the same time, you never really feel like it’s going to happen to you.

When it happened, I knew immediately what it was. I just had this feeling, you know?

That’s when the fear really started to sink in. What’s going to happen now? How long will I be out? Will schools lose interest in signing me?

All I had was questions with no answers. And it sucked, not going to lie.

The hardest part was picking up the phone and calling all of the schools I’d been talking to and telling them what happened. I can still remember some of the schools telling me they’d prefer to take a wait-and-see approach. They weren’t technically giving up on me, but in a way, it felt like that’s exactly what they were doing.

To think, everything could change at the snap of a finger because of one injury—just like that. It was as disappointing as it was eye-opening.

One of the many reasons I actually chose to sign with Nebraska was because Coach John Walker never gave up on me. I was at my lowest point, and he’d call in weekly to check in to see how my knee was doing. More importantly, he’d check in to see how I was doing.

He never turned it into a recruiting call. He wasn’t trying to sell me something.

I think that really spoke volumes about who he is as a person and the school he represented. I wasn’t even committed to Nebraska, and they genuinely cared about my well-being.

I was a Husker before I was a Husker.

A Childhood Dream Fulfilled

 

Honestly, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I’m Nebraska born and bred, and I’ve always dreamt of attending the university one day.

We don’t have a lot of professional sports around here so the school has always been the big-ticket sports show in town. I grew up idolizing all of the athletes and thought it was the coolest thing ever just to attend the university.

No matter the sport, I was determined to follow in these athletes' footsteps. Of course, then I realized it was going to be a lot harder than I thought when I was like seven years old.

But through hard work and determination, I was able to find a way.

After recovering from my knee injury, I made it a point to graduate in December to get an early start on my collegiate career. I just figured the extra time with my new teammates in a different environment would help me get into the groove of things quickly—and spare me from the rookie stares in the fall.

No one likes being the new kid at school.

Once I stepped foot on campus, I was fortunate to have a lot of the girls that were already on the team go out of their way to make me feel included. They helped me move my stuff in and hung out with me when I arrived on campus, even though we really didn’t know each other.

It was exactly what I needed to kick-start the next chapter in my life.

God’s Got Me

 

I had high hopes that graduating early wouldn’t just help with team bonding, but I wanted to make an immediate impact on the soccer field and score goals. 

What can I say? Those competitive roots run deep.

Make no mistake, that’s still my goal going into next season. But now that I’ve actually had a lot more time to prepare for my first season, I want to leave an even bigger mark. At the very least, I hope to make more memories.

At the end of the day, that's what it's all about. 

A lot of people often ask me what it's like to be a Husker athlete. And I think the best way to describe it is to share one of those early memories.

It was my first practice. As you can imagine, I was crazy nervous and all sorts of thoughts ran through my mind. I sat in the locker room, put on my cleats, and got ready to take the field for the first time. 

That’s when Theresa (Pujado) came up to me, patted me on the back, and assured me I was going to have a great practice. Frankly, this was one of my first-ever exchanges with her. Yet, there she was telling me not to worry and that everyone on the team had my back.

I understand why you may not think of this as a big deal, but in all honesty, it's the perfect way to describe what I believe the Huskers are all about - unity.

A small gesture like this meant the world to me in that moment. Knowing that I was a part of this new family now and, more importantly, that everyone was excited for me to be a part of this new family, had a lot of significance to me. 

I'm a strong believer that everything I've gone through was part of God's plan. It's now forward and onward to a new year with even bigger possibilities. No matter the challenge or adversity, I’ll be ready to face anything the universe throws my way.

 

Go Big Red!