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Sophomore midfielder Julie Chen checks in with this week’s CYber CYd for the soccer team. The Appleton, Wis. native gives a detailed look into the academic side of being a student-athlete, what the soccer team does off the field and much more.
CYber CYd with Julie Chen
Hey guys! It’s been another week already and we’re back to the grind again. We were gone last weekend in South Dakota, which was our third weekend in a row that we’ve played away from home. I, unfortunately, had two exams this Wednesday so I spent the seven hour bus ride with my nose buried in the books! This year, so far, everyone has had to be pretty organized and on top of their school work since we’ve missed the first three Thursdays and Fridays of school. A big part of the “student” aspect of a student–athlete is prioritizing your time and being organized. Missing so much class requires making it up on your own time (fortunately there are the long bus rides to get it done!). As much as it stinks to miss class and make up work, I’ve found that it can be beneficial because it gives you an excuse to get to know your professor. We are given sheets to hand to our professors that have our travel dates so we are excused from class. Most of the professors are more than accommodating and some even come out to watch our games! Obviously school and soccer conflict sometimes, and it’s weird to think we haven’t even been here for a full week of classes yet, but our coaches continue to hold us to high expectations in the classroom. Depending on our GPA we have mandatory study hall hours, class checks, scoreboards, and mentors/tutors. ISU has done a great job supplying us with the necessary resources to work to accomplish our team goals of excellence on and off the field.
But I don’t want you to think that studying is all we do! Our team hangs out all the time. This includes trips to get Coldstone ice cream and slushis after practice, going to movies, shopping (even if we’re broke so it’s for groceries), getting dinner at Hawthorn (you have to use up those meal plans) and just talking and hanging out. Our team is our family and we spend a lot of time together!
If you’ve been keeping up on our games, you’ll know that we’re coming out of this past weekend 3-3. We beat North Dakota State 4-1 and had many scoring opportunities. We’ve really been working on our offense and improving our ability to finish. However, it was a MAJOR disappointment on Sunday when we lost to South Dakota State in double overtime. The first half we came out alright, with decent pace, but in the second half we broke down and didn’t play our game. It was tied by the end of the second half, 1-1, when we went to overtime. They outplayed us and worked together better than we did and they came out with the win. I think Sunday’s game was a real eye-opener for all of us. We’ve known that we tend to come out not as strong on Sundays and this last Sunday was the epitome of our inconsistency. We talk about working hard and getting it done, but this time I think it hit us deep and unfortunately it took another loss to show us. We know that from here on out it has to be less talk and more action, working hard and getting it done. I know each of us is up for the challenge. We’re excited for this weekend, having our first home games Friday and Sunday. Hopefully we can come out with a 5-3 non-conference record. They should be good games with Drake on Friday night and Iowa on Sunday!
Hope to see you there!
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