Evan Meetze

My name is Evan Meetze, and I am from a rural part of West Georgia. I am from the city of Carrollton located in the heart of Carroll County. I grew up going to a small private Christian school. My graduating class was only ten people, so I was able to get to know my peers very well. Throughout my schooling I was able to help establish these relationships with my small group of classmates through my passion for sports. Because I went too such a small school, I was able to play soccer, basketball, Tennis, and golf. Through these sports, I learned the importance of teamwork and bonded with my classmates. I realized how much of an impact these relationships had on me because when I went into high school, I wanted nothing to do with soccer, I was fully dedicated to playing golf. My friends slowly convinced me to try out for the team and play with them. Over the course of high school, soccer quickly became my favorite sport, and my classmates and I worked hard enough to win multiple state championships. Coming to UGA, as the top of a ten-person class was a big struggle for me, I went from having ten good friends to having more than 20 sharing a bathroom with me my freshman year. I used my newfound passion of soccer to help myself get connected on campus. Though Covid robbed me of intramural soccer my freshman year, by organizing pickup games I was able to make a large campus feel more like the one I knew in high school. Overall, the transition from such a small town like Carrollton to a huge campus like UGA was aided by my newfound passion for soccer, only discovered through the relationships that I had gained throughout high school.