The past four years as a student-athlete at LIU Post have been rewarding and taught me important life skills.

As a student-athlete, one of the benefits you get are your teammates. Every year, a group of girls come in for preseason and they become your sisters. I have had support from each of these girls on and off the field. Everyone on the team knows that they have someone to go to if they ever need help with anything. These girls, my sisters, have given me memories that I will never forget. I have made friendships that will last forever.

I have also learned important skills such as time management, an intense work ethic, and leadership. I had to learn to manage my time with my classes and soccer. Missing classes for games, making up the work, getting all the notes I missed, was all up to me and I learned ways to make sure I did it and still succeed on the field. Work ethic comes along with being a student-athlete as well. I had to work extra hard in the classroom to keep up with the work that I was missing and stay committed to my work on the field. As a result of this hard work, I have maintained over a 3.5 GPA and was named the ECC Defensive Player of the Year on the field.

I also developed leadership skills from being a student-athlete. I had to learn to speak up to the team when I felt necessary which is something I wasn't good at, but had to improve on to be a leader. All of these skills I acquired by being a student-athlete at LIU Post. These skills will benefit me in the future as I pursue my career as a nurse.

Being a student-athlete for me has been a privilege and has helped me grow in many aspects of my life. I encourage more students to become student-athletes so that they can gain the same skills and memories that I have developed over the years. It is a great experience and is something that has helped shaped me into the person I am today.