Biography
The majority of my life before college consisted of soccer, school, and God. I had committed so much time to soccer that friendships I had from school either vanished or deteriorated greatly. It wasn’t too big of a deal to me because I was perfectly happy spending all of my time playing the sport I love. For 3 years in high school, I commuted an hour and a half to and from soccer practice 5 times a week and it took up almost all of my free time after school. The dedication I had in high school for the sport led me to continue that dedication to college and play for a Division 1 school. Thus I committed to Longwood and started my collegiate career in early August 2019.
Prior to experiencing everything that Longwood had to offer, I came with the idea that the only thing for me in Farmville was soccer. I was recruited by Coach Atkinson to play soccer at Longwood and prior to hearing from him I never even considered this school. After my first visit, I instantly felt the at-home feeling. As a native of Fredericksburg, VA I was used to living in a small town, and Farmville wasn’t much different. At the beginning of the Fall 2019 semester it was hard for me to interact with others who weren’t student-athletes. Most of my time was spent hanging out and training with my teammates or studying with fellow athletes at Barlow. I began to build relationships with classmates who weren’t athletes and got to experience a different way of life in Farmville. My parents always emphasized school and the importance of doing well in class. The first semester I was enrolled as a normal student and wasn’t quite aware of the honors program. I excelled during my first semester and felt that I needed to be challenged a little more so I decided to join the honors college beginning Spring 2020. Outside of the academics at Longwood I thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment that the school had to offer. Almost every weekend there was something fun to do when we weren’t playing games. One of my favorite memories from the Fall 2019 semester was definitely Octoberfest. The concert was amazing and sharing it with some of my best friends made it truly special. Going into the Spring 2020 semester I had high expectations for another great time at Longwood. Coronavirus put a huge dent in my expectations although I still had an amazing few months while I was there. By far the best part of the semester and possibly my life was my experience playing for the Puerto Rico U-20 Men’s National Soccer Team. Reaching that team was a goal of mine since a young kid and when it finally happened I did not take it for granted. I missed about two weeks of school because of it, but the professors were all gracious and allowed me to complete my work online. Ironically everyone began completing work online only a few weeks after my trip to Puerto Rico. The cancellation of the rest of the spring semester hurt everybody and it was extremely sad to pack up and leave Farmville. I am even more excited to go to Longwood this next semester and take full advantage of what it has to offer. I am also looking forward to participating more actively in the honors college and eventually studying abroad.