It can be a daunting feeling before you embark on the opporunity of a lifetime. I’ve been there myself, a mixture of emotions from excitment to nerves, and everything in between!
Time for Departure
I remember that feeling of being dropped off at Heathrow Airport and saying goodbye to my family, before boarding a flight to America on my own for the first time! I was so excited for what was ahead but naturally had a good amount of nerves. The thought of being so far away was something that hit me before I left, and I’m not ashamed to say I sobbed when I said my goodbyes! However, as soon as I got through security at the aiport and was boarding the flight a wave of excitment came over me- I was so close to living my dream of playing US College Soccer now!
Arriving in The USA
I was picked up from the aiport by my new team captain, and her boyfriend who was on the Men’s Soccer team. They picked me and two others up – one of my new teammates who was from London and a boy from Manchester joining the Men’s team. It made me feel so much more at ease knowing I was being collected from the airport, which is something almost every coach arranges when new international athletes arrive! It was only about a 30-minute drive from the airport to campus, which was ideal after a long day of travelling.
We arrived to campus in Chickasha, Oklahoma, and were greeted by most of our new teammates, who had arrived earlier that day or the day before. I was shown to my room by my new room-mate who was from Oklahoma, and her parents were there at the time too. They only lived 45mins away, so I knew straight away they were going to take me in as one of their own and make me feel at home as much as they could. They took me to Walmart and helped me get what I needed for my room. The furniture is all provided so I just needed to pick out what bedding I wanted and any extra accesorises to make my room homely! Of course, like most international students do, I hung an England flag on the wall and added a lot of photos of my family/friends from home!
We then had the rest of the day to chill out. We all went for dinner together and then had an early night… ready for our first day of pre season the next day!
Pre Season…
Naturally, this is when the real nerves hit. Day 1 of pre season.
Fitness testing, meeting the new coaches properly and wanting to make a good impression. Once things got started those nerves turned into excitement that this opportunity was real, and I was finally here! You get to know your teammates pretty quickly because you literally spend every minute with them during pre-season.
We had 3 sessions a day throughout the course of a 2 week pre season. A 6:30am early morning training session (this was certainly needed because it was above 30 degrees celcius by 9am!), we then went for breakfast together before having a few hours off to relax. We then had a recovery type of session before going to lunch all together. After lunch we then had some team acitivities, which was a perfect time for us all to get to know eachother a bit more. We then had another session early evening and finished the day off with a team dinner. By that point, we were all more than ready for bed!
This was what our schedule was like during the two weeks of pre-season. The sessions looked slightly different as we got towards the latter stage of preseason, and spent more time preparing for our fixtures.
Becoming A Student Athlete
There were still times during pre-season where I missed home, but after those two weeks I was so much more content and this was something that my teammates and coaches helped with massively. I was the youngest one on the team, having turned 18 just before I flew out, so there were girls that had experienced the same as I had and were there to help me through homesickness- which soon went away!
The next transistion was beginning my university studies, all whilst still training and then having competitive games too. This was actually much easier than I expected. Having more of a routine, not just training, was good and meant I had different things to focus on. I had 5 classes during my first term. These were all “General Education” classes, which are classes that are requirements for all students. This helped ease me into life of a university student.
It was also the time I began to meet more new people, away from my teammates. I became really good friends with a few of the Basketball team which was cool because I didn’t know too much about the sport beforehand. I went to all their games which was great fun, and soon became my second favourite sport!
The First Semester
Before I knew it we were over half way through the first semester, and only had a few games of the season left too! It had absolutely flown by, and was only a few weeks until I flew home to spend Christmas with my family.
The season came to an end, and we had so much more free time to do whatever we wanted. Obviously we still had classes, but we had afternoons, evenings and weekends off. You wouldn’t have thought we had a grueling pre season, followed by an intense in season. We spent a lot of our free time having a kick about together! It was nice because it was still 25 degrees celcius in November, although that wasn’t preparing me well to spend 4 weeks in England over December/January!!
Thanksgiving break then came. Thanksgiving is the last thursday in November, so you have that week off. It’s a national holiday in America. I have family in Missouri, so myself and two of my teammates (one from England one from Scotland) went there for the week. We experienced our first Thanksgiving with my Uncles American family, and got to see a new part of America too.
The final week before going home for Christmas
I was now firmly into the final countdown before flying home for 4 weeks! Again, it was a time of mixed emotions as I was so excited to go home and see my family, and be there for Christmas, but it also meant leaving a group of friends that had become like family, even though we would only be apart for a few weeks. It was also strange to be walking around in shorts and a t-shirt in December.. not the usual christmas vibes we’re used to in England!
My final week of classes were very chilled, because I didn’t have any end of term exams which was nice. I spent most of the time packing and hanging out with friends before we all left for a month.
My flight home was on the saturday afternoon, so on the Friday morning after the final classes myself and some of the internationals headed to my roommates parents house for the rest of the day, and stayed there that night. It was so fun to all be together that evening. We went out for dinner and spent a few hours exploring the city, before all coming back to her house and having a movie night- I think there was about 14 of us, a mixture of the Men’s and Women’s team! Luckily, her parents house was big enough to host us all, they even had their own cinema room, with numerous recliners and cinema-like seats!
The next day it was time to head to the airport. Most of us flew out within a couple of hours of eachother, so it made the time spent in the airport a little more enjoyable. I was actually on the same flight as one of my teammates from London, so that was nice and when we landed in London our families both met eachother too!
GO FOR IT!
We know it can be daunting, even just the thought of it let alone getting closer to your departure date. We’re here with you, every step of the way, to ensure your journey and transistion is as smooth as it can be. Trust me, you’ll look back on the first few weeks one day and wonder why you were so nervous/worried…it will, without a doubt, be the best experience of your life and I wish I could re-live it all over again!
I hope this little insight has helped settle any nerves you may have had. Go for it, and enjoy every single second of your new experience…
Thanks for reading!
Daisy 🙂
