My first semester at college has gone by in a flash. Right from the moment I came off the plane from England and stepped onto American soil, I have been immersed into this very different culture – and I have loved it. Some things have taken a while to get used to, but on the whole it has been a crazy experience and one that I will be repeating after Christmas for the spring semester. I don’t think I was best prepared for college life. In the months and weeks before I got on that plane, all I can remember was my mother trying to teach me how to cook – unsuccessfully of course. Those innocent days seem like a distant blur in my mind now. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into.
I remember making my last goodbyes at the airport as I was ushered through passport control and being incredibly lucky to be going with two other English soccer student-athletes, so we were all in the same situation. Our new soccer coach picked us up from Dallas Love-field airport and even after a ten hour long flight, excitement filled me inside and I was wide awake and chatty on the drive home. This was until a car four cars in front of us lost a mattress off the back of their truck, causing a domino effect of cars crashing, firstly into the mattress, then into each other. It was almost slow motion when the front of our coach’s brand new white Ford-Explorer crunched into the car in front. So, our first three hours on American soil were spent on the side of the highway waiting for the police. We had to run across it in order to get a sandwich for dinner!
The next two weeks were preseason. When a soccer player hears that word, all we see in our minds is: running, running, running…and maybe a little soccer! We were living in one dorm with twenty-five other soccer girls – which I guess was an extreme attempt at major team bonding. I was awake at 7 a.m. every morning ready for breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Then it was out onto the field for the first practice session of the day at 8 a.m. which was usually two hours of some fitness drills and simple soccer skills such as one-two’s or passing. 11 a.m. till noon was our designated lunch time, consisting of a turkey or ham sandwich and fruit. Our second practice session of the day was 2 p.m. till 3 p.m. which included going over set plays, like corners or free-kicks. Then our last practice was 6 p.m. till 8 p.m. where we scrimmaged. After that session most of us were dead on our feet and ready for bed! The overriding memories from soccer preseason were the relentless muscle aches which plagued my body for the entire duration. I make it sound like it was some form of torture, but really it was an enjoyable week of plenty of soccer playing, which I love; it was just a relentless one. Every minute of spare time was spent stretching, icing, or napping! I have never taken so many naps in my life. I thought the beginning of classes would be a welcome break…but I could not have been more wrong.
Once the soccer season started along with the beginning of my lessons, time became a whole other issue. My new day consisted of lessons which lasted until 1:45 p.m. and then practice from 2 p.m. till 4 p.m., then rehab and homework until bed. I had never felt so stressed than at that time. Being shouted at on the soccer pitch, “LAURA, what are you doing? Were you not listening in practice?” and accidently dozing in my history lessons, seemed to make up the most of my semester at Texas A&M University-Commerce. That combined with the extra running practices and weight sessions every morning at 7 a.m. during the soccer season, made my life seem like a crazy struggle. I managed to make it through, as here I am at the end of the semester, a few days away from flying back home.
One thing I never thought would be an issue with coming to southern America was the weather. I am in Texas, and so, perhaps stereotypically, I packed shorts, flip-flops, sunglasses…and not a lot else. In the UK it rains extensively about 177 days out of the year, so I used to have at least seven or eight soccer games a year cancelled due to flooding. I honestly did not expect this to happen in Texas, but much like my time here, the weather has been crazy and unpredictable. We had a new field dug out in the summer, and I guess the draining system was not great, as we spent at least two practices out on the field trying to roll water off to the sides using a goal post! We had two games cancelled because of water logged fields or lightening too, which only made my schedule more hectic. In October we had to play five games in eight days; it was not an easy time. I remember struggling through the remaining games of the season as I am not used to playing so often. The English season is spread out over ten months, rather than the four months as it is here, so I have more recovery time as we only play once a week. My American friends tell me that the weather should be icy cold right now in December, but it happens to be 80 degrees outside! That bodes well for me though, with my wardrobe of shorts and t-shirts. Interestingly in my hometown it is snowing right now according to the BBC weather website. I am regretting my packing now, as it will be snowing in England when I fly back next week. I think it will be quite a shock!
My body was changing and adapting to the new fitness regime I was undertaking. Thanks to the weight training, I have felt myself become a lot stronger, and due to the agility conditioning, I have gained extra speed. All of these aspects are crucial to my development in soccer. I also noticed a difference in my diet. I had heard rumors of the “freshmen 15” that students gain when they go to college. I remember thinking that it was ridiculous…until I was about two months in and realized just how much I eat. In the months before my arrival in America, I made an extra special effort to eat healthily as I was trying to get in really good shape for the soccer season. I have always been pretty good in that respect. However, I have never done so much exercise than I am doing during this semester, which meant that I was constantly hungry. I felt like some savage beast who always eating or chewing on something - my mind was always on food! What made things worse, was that my classes ended fifth-teen minutes before practice began, so I rarely had time to have lunch. Therefore I spent my days snacking, trying very hard to stay healthy, but when it came to dinner time I would eat a mountain at the cafeteria. I used to tell myself it was just because I was working out so much…but now that season is over, I am still hungry all the time. I have to tell myself I am not working out as much as I was, so it is not okay to be snacking 24/7! I think it will be a lot easier when I go back home and I will go back to having my mother control my food intake.
I sound like I have not grown up since leaving home, but I really have. I have had to control my finances, and apart from running out of money once and making an emergency call home, I would say I have coped fairly well. My roommate and I are quite competent at cooking our signature dish of pasta and traditional Prego sauce (yes, from Walmart), admittedly after setting the fire alarm off a few times. Apart from some shrinking of a few T-shirts, I have done a good job of washing my own clothes. We have passed all of our apartment inspections too. Overall I am pretty proud of how far I have come from being a slob and doing nothing at home. I think I will go back for Christmas break and be more independent. Well, maybe for a week, then I may accidently slip back into my old ways, but that cannot be helped.
Due to this intense schedule of soccer, school, sleeping and eating, I did not have a lot of time for socializing in the first eight weeks of being at college. In fact my roommate Bailey, Kaylin a