I began playing sports at 4 years old. I started with softball and soccer. After playing both sports for 5 years I decided to stop playing softball and begin my path to playing soccer in a professional setting. My dream career was to play professional soccer. A sequence of unfortunate events caused my dream to become unavailable. Once my initial career choice was gone, I was never sure what I truly wanted to do as a backup plan, but my father always said: “be patient; there’s no rush; it will come.” I used this valuable information and let my future job come to me. After some time, physical therapy found me. After spending two years of physical therapy after tearing my ACL in both knees, my right knee first and then my left knee after recovering from the first, I learned the importance of recovery. After each surgery, I spent many hours and days in recovery watching as my physical therapist worked with me and other patients, I knew I wanted to do the same thing for others. With this career, I will strive to help other athletes recover from injuries, such as my own, as my physical therapist helped me. As an athlete, I know the importance of returning to your sport as soon as possible, and I plan to help other athletes do just that. I believe working with and helping others recover from their injuries will be a fulfilling career and give me a feeling of accomplishment. I am excited to be a piece of the puzzle that changes a life. As someone who faced a career-ending injury, I know the difficulties these athletes, young and old, will face physically and mentally. I hope to give them what they need to return to whatever their dream may be with encouragement and support. After gaining experience I plan to own and operate my own physical therapy office. To make this dream a reality, I have applied and been accepted to attend Baylor University in Waco, Texas. I am majoring in Health Science Studies - Pre PT. When I complete my Bachelor's Degree I will apply to continue my studies at Baylor University in their Physical Therapy school. Baylor University has one of the best physical therapy schools in the nation. Learning in this environment will set me up for a better future in my career and provide me with more opportunities. Even though my soccer career did not work out as planned, I am grateful for the experience and growth my ACL injuries have given me. I have grown physically and mentally. It taught me to never give up and helped me realize my full potential. I would have never found my passion for physical therapy if I had never faced my injuries.

I began playing sports at 4 years old. I started with softball and soccer. After playing both sports for 5 years I decided to stop playing softball and begin my path to playing soccer in a professional setting. My dream career was to play professional soccer. A sequence of unfortunate events caused my dream to become unavailable. Once my initial career choice was gone, I was never sure what I truly wanted to do as a backup plan, but my father always said: “be patient; there’s no rush; it will come.” I used this valuable information and let my future job come to me. After some time, physical therapy found me. After spending two years of physical therapy after tearing my ACL in both knees, my right knee first and then my left knee after recovering from the first, I learned the importance of recovery. After each surgery, I spent many hours and days in recovery watching as my physical therapist worked with me and other patients, I knew I wanted to do the same thing for others. With this career, I will strive to help other athletes recover from injuries, such as my own, as my physical therapist helped me. As an athlete, I know the importance of returning to your sport as soon as possible, and I plan to help other athletes do just that. I believe working with and helping others recover from their injuries will be a fulfilling career and give me a feeling of accomplishment. I am excited to be a piece of the puzzle that changes a life. As someone who faced a career-ending injury, I know the difficulties these athletes, young and old, will face physically and mentally. I hope to give them what they need to return to whatever their dream may be with encouragement and support. After gaining experience I plan to own and operate my own physical therapy office. To make this dream a reality, I have applied and been accepted to attend Baylor University in Waco, Texas. I am majoring in Health Science Studies - Pre PT. When I complete my Bachelor's Degree I will apply to continue my studies at Baylor University in their Physical Therapy school. Baylor University has one of the best physical therapy schools in the nation. Learning in this environment will set me up for a better future in my career and provide me with more opportunities. Even though my soccer career did not work out as planned, I am grateful for the experience and growth my ACL injuries have given me. I have grown physically and mentally. It taught me to never give up and helped me realize my full potential. I would have never found my passion for physical therapy if I had never faced my injuries.

I began playing sports at 4 years old. I started with softball and soccer. After playing both sports for 5 years I decided to stop playing softball and begin my path to playing soccer in a professional setting. My dream career was to play professional soccer. A sequence of unfortunate events caused my dream to become unavailable. Once my initial career choice was gone, I was never sure what I truly wanted to do as a backup plan, but my father always said: “be patient; there’s no rush; it will come.” I used this valuable information and let my future job come to me. After some time, physical therapy found me. After spending two years of physical therapy after tearing my ACL in both knees, my right knee first and then my left knee after recovering from the first, I learned the importance of recovery. After each surgery, I spent many hours and days in recovery watching as my physical therapist worked with me and other patients, I knew I wanted to do the same thing for others. With this career, I will strive to help other athletes recover from injuries, such as my own, as my physical therapist helped me. As an athlete, I know the importance of returning to your sport as soon as possible, and I plan to help other athletes do just that. I believe working with and helping others recover from their injuries will be a fulfilling career and give me a feeling of accomplishment. I am excited to be a piece of the puzzle that changes a life. As someone who faced a career-ending injury, I know the difficulties these athletes, young and old, will face physically and mentally. I hope to give them what they need to return to whatever their dream may be with encouragement and support. After gaining experience I plan to own and operate my own physical therapy office. To make this dream a reality, I have applied and been accepted to attend Baylor University in Waco, Texas. I am majoring in Health Science Studies - Pre PT. When I complete my Bachelor's Degree I will apply to continue my studies at Baylor University in their Physical Therapy school. Baylor University has one of the best physical therapy schools in the nation. Learning in this environment will set me up for a better future in my career and provide me with more opportunities. Even though my soccer career did not work out as planned, I am grateful for the experience and growth my ACL injuries have given me. I have grown physically and mentally. It taught me to never give up and helped me realize my full potential. I would have never found my passion for physical therapy if I had never faced my injuries.

I began playing sports at 4 years old. I started with softball and soccer. After playing both sports for 5 years I decided to stop playing softball and begin my path to playing soccer in a professional setting. My dream career was to play professional soccer. A sequence of unfortunate events caused my dream to become unavailable. Once my initial career choice was gone, I was never sure what I truly wanted to do as a backup plan, but my father always said: “be patient; there’s no rush; it will come.” I used this valuable information and let my future job come to me. After some time, physical therapy found me. After spending two years of physical therapy after tearing my ACL in both knees, my right knee first and then my left knee after recovering from the first, I learned the importance of recovery. After each surgery, I spent many hours and days in recovery watching as my physical therapist worked with me and other patients, I knew I wanted to do the same thing for others. With this career, I will strive to help other athletes recover from injuries, such as my own, as my physical therapist helped me. As an athlete, I know the importance of returning to your sport as soon as possible, and I plan to help other athletes do just that. I believe working with and helping others recover from their injuries will be a fulfilling career and give me a feeling of accomplishment. I am excited to be a piece of the puzzle that changes a life. As someone who faced a career-ending injury, I know the difficulties these athletes, young and old, will face physically and mentally. I hope to give them what they need to return to whatever their dream may be with encouragement and support. After gaining experience I plan to own and operate my own physical therapy office. To make this dream a reality, I have applied and been accepted to attend Baylor University in Waco, Texas. I am majoring in Health Science Studies - Pre PT. When I complete my Bachelor's Degree I will apply to continue my studies at Baylor University in their Physical Therapy school. Baylor University has one of the best physical therapy schools in the nation. Learning in this environment will set me up for a better future in my career and provide me with more opportunities. Even though my soccer career did not work out as planned, I am grateful for the experience and growth my ACL injuries have given me. I have grown physically and mentally. It taught me to never give up and helped me realize my full potential. I would have never found my passion for physical therapy if I had never faced my injuries.

I began playing sports at 4 years old. I started with softball and soccer. After playing both sports for 5 years I decided to stop playing softball and begin my path to playing soccer in a professional setting. My dream career was to play professional soccer. A sequence of unfortunate events caused my dream to become unavailable. Once my initial career choice was gone, I was never sure what I truly wanted to do as a backup plan, but my father always said: “be patient; there’s no rush; it will come.” I used this valuable information and let my future job come to me. After some time, physical therapy found me. After spending two years of physical therapy after tearing my ACL in both knees, my right knee first and then my left knee after recovering from the first, I learned the importance of recovery. After each surgery, I spent many hours and days in recovery watching as my physical therapist worked with me and other patients, I knew I wanted to do the same thing for others. With this career, I will strive to help other athletes recover from injuries, such as my own, as my physical therapist helped me. As an athlete, I know the importance of returning to your sport as soon as possible, and I plan to help other athletes do just that. I believe working with and helping others recover from their injuries will be a fulfilling career and give me a feeling of accomplishment. I am excited to be a piece of the puzzle that changes a life. As someone who faced a career-ending injury, I know the difficulties these athletes, young and old, will face physically and mentally. I hope to give them what they need to return to whatever their dream may be with encouragement and support. After gaining experience I plan to own and operate my own physical therapy office. To make this dream a reality, I have applied and been accepted to attend Baylor University in Waco, Texas. I am majoring in Health Science Studies - Pre PT. When I complete my Bachelor's Degree I will apply to continue my studies at Baylor University in their Physical Therapy school. Baylor University has one of the best physical therapy schools in the nation. Learning in this environment will set me up for a better future in my career and provide me with more opportunities. Even though my soccer career did not work out as planned, I am grateful for the experience and growth my ACL injuries have given me. I have grown physically and mentally. It taught me to never give up and helped me realize my full potential. I would have never found my passion for physical therapy if I had never faced my injuries.

Some may see obstacles in life as negative events to be feared and avoided. I see obstacles as opportunities to learn, grow and find new directions. I embraced this point of view through my experience with career-ending sports injuries. The first sport I ever played was soccer. I started in rec soccer at four years old, but eventually that wasn’t enough, I wanted more. That’s when I began playing club soccer for Dynamo Dash. In just one year of playing, I was one of the best on the team, was named team captain and was asked to try out for their elite team in Houston Tx, which I did and made the team. Soccer was my life and commitment and I dreamed of playing soccer in college. I was playing for two club teams, going to practice in Beaumont and Houston and on top of that I was invited to an Olympic year-round training camp. I was reaching the turning point of my soccer career, becoming the player I always dreamed of being, and loved every minute of it. The summer before my 8th-grade year I tore the ACL and meniscus in my right knee in a soccer game. Though it was rough, I didn’t let this injury faze me. I was determined to prove to everyone I could come back after an injury like that. After surgery, rehab and a grueling training program, I found myself back on the pitch playing the game I loved. Until, one day at soccer practice during my freshman year, I heard a pop in my left knee. We had to get an MRI, but I already knew the results. Just as I expected, I had torn my other ACL and had to do it all over again. This time I wasn’t sure if I would be able to get back on the field because this would mean I would be missing two valuable years of increasing my skills. Through it all, I kept a positive attitude reminding myself this is all just a lesson. Since I couldn’t give all of my attention to sports, I decided to focus elsewhere. I learned that I enjoyed quality time with friends, whereas before I didn’t have much time for friends. I learned that I liked doing schoolwork and learning new things. I got involved in school clubs such as HOSA and Student Council and took on leadership roles at school. When I finished my recovery, I tried getting back into soccer, but I had missed too much and was too far behind. I decided to hang up my cleats and find a new direction. I learned from my time off that there can be more important things in life than just sports. I learned the importance of making memories, being involved, keeping good grades, and just simply having fun. These injuries also helped me to discover my future career path as a physical therapist. After going through many months of physical therapy, I became fascinated by the process of injury recovery. My goal now is to become a Physical Therapist and work with injured athletes and military personnel. Some people may feel bad for me because the obstacles in my path crushed my dreams, but personally, I know I would not be the same person I am today without my injuries. In those two years of being hurt, I grew as a person and learned that life is going to throw obstacles in your path, but they are just growth opportunities.