Hey my name is Hayley Foster and I'm now a third year student at the University of Georgia, but for the first two years of my college journey I was a student at Furman University. I was part of the soccer team there and had a lot of ups and downs throughout my freshman and sophomore year. Ever since I was about three years old, my world has revolved around the beautiful game of soccer. I grew up a shy, introverted person but on the soccer field I was outgoing, enthusiastic, passionate, aggressive (not red card aggressive but definitely yellow card… I am a clean player though), confident, and happy. Soccer brought out a side of me I never knew before and I will forever be thankful as it helped me create life long friendships as well as learn to advance skills such as teamwork, communication, trust, patience, overcoming adversity and so much more. I became so obsessed with this sport that I would practice for 2+ hours everyday and bring my ball everywhere I went. This seems awesome and all as I was super dedicated and passionate but my performance began to determine my mood and alter my personality in a way. I have always been so hard on myself so with that, I would allow one little mistake to affect the rest of my game as well as the rest of my day. I guess that is what comes with sports as it is not only a physical game, but also mental and emotional. So obviously college soccer is a whole different level so I would say even through the highs I experienced, I began to lose myself and overwhelm my mind with a constant stream of negative thoughts. At times, I couldn't focus on my academics or my friendships and other relationships. It was tough for me to balance all the things on my plate with the range of emotions I would feel in a day. Consequently, I decided it was best for me to step away from college soccer and move closer to home and my twin brother (who also attends UGA). This would give me time to work on myself and find peace in different hobbies before stepping on the field again. Soccer will always be an outlet for me and the thing that brings me the most joy as well as pain. After growing emotionally and spiritually, though, I feel as though the next time I touch a ball I will be an improved version of myself who will be okay with making mistakes and not letting a bad moment turn into a bad day.