I picked up the phone and called my good friend Arjun who currently attends New York University. However, he was not always set on going there. Like me, he went on the path of trying to become a student-athlete. He had a few Division I offers that he would end up declining because he wanted to be able to have an academically engaging experience that was well rounded and not just soccer. I asked if I could interview him for my English 101 class about college recruiting and he was happy to share the rest of his story.
I started by asking him how he thought that soccer would impact the college search process for him when he was in high school. Without hesitation he told me, "I always knew that I wanted to play college soccer. At first I thought I wanted to play Division I. That was always the dream, but once I learned about the time commitment, it just seemed like too much, you know? After all, I am going there for my education." This resonated with me because as we played together for years, we had discussed the idea every once in a while and it seemed to match up with my beliefs too. Following us then going off topic for a while and remembering our favorite moments over the years in club soccer, I remembered I had to ask the next question to keep the interview moving. So, I asked Arjun," How does soccer impact your life now?" |
This was an interesting question for him as it has changed a lot as of late. Arjun went on to say," Well, after being recruited to NYU for soccer, I thought I would be playing on the team, but I couldn't do it. It wasn't the level of play. I just hate the coach and the time commitment wasn't worth it if I wasn't going to enjoy it. It would take my time every day from 5 to 10 and I didn't want to do that. I wanted to focus on music and experiencing New York. But I still love soccer and play whenever I can and train on my own." It was then I remembered talking to Arjun before about his love for music production and how he was able to explore that more at NYU because of the great opportunities and connections to performance there is in New York, and knowing Arjun, it made sense for him to do exactly this. He was always logical and would do what he believed was best for him without hesitation. We kept talking about what his day to day life was like then and how he enjoyed it much more than when he had to manage his time with soccer. It kept him from being able to explore music at all, which kept him from being as happy. It ended up working out still though for Arjun as over this coming January he will have a trial in the Scottish Premier League with professional teams where he can continue pursuing his dream of playing soccer.
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