My dad was a colonel in the U.S. Army, so we lived overseas for most of my life while he worked for several embassies that took us to different places in Europe. My favorite place was Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which is a beautiful town in southern Germany, nestled in between the Alps. We first lived there when I was in preschool and returned two more times. The people who lived there made it feel like home. To this day, that small German town still feels like home, and those amazing people are like family. In between our time spent in Germany, we also lived in Ukraine, Macedonia, Uzbekistan, and Canada.

Both of my parents encouraged us to play sports. My dad ran cross country for West Point, and my mom was a gymnast, but neither of them played soccer, which was the sport that we played the most. Europeans live and breathe soccer, so you are almost viewed as an outcast if you don’t play. I am the fourth of six children, and I wanted to be like my older siblings — so I followed in their footsteps and started playing soccer.

It wasn't easy to find my place on a team as we frequently moved to different countries. The military offers a program that allows children to attend a boarding school while their parents are in the military. Through the program, two of my older siblings went to a boarding school in Minnesota. My brother Mark left to attend the school before me, and he was still there when I arrived. Having him there made me feel like I wasn’t too far away from home. As soon as I arrived, people started asking me if I was Mark's sister.

The boarding school was an excellent opportunity for me because it was a sports-focused school. A lot of NHL players have gone there. It is famous for producing high-caliber athletes. In addition to hockey, they also offer soccer, figure skating, and golf. For the first time, I was able to stay in one place and become part of a team.

After graduating in 2015, I went straight to UVU and started training with the women’s soccer team during the preseason. One of the big reasons I decided on UVU was that Mark had already played his first year on the men’s soccer team and planned on going there when he returned. My older brother Tyler also played soccer for UVU. We joked that we were building a family dynasty at UVU.

I owe a lot to the UVU soccer program because that’s where I met my husband, Conner. My brother was teammates with Conner, and they became good friends. The summer going into my senior year, I lived in Colorado with one of my friends, playing on a summer team. We talked about the upcoming school year, and of course we gossiped about how cute Conner was. I jokingly commented on one of his pictures on Instagram, figuring I would take my chances and see what happened — nothing did.

I accepted defeat and went back to school. One of my friends had a class with him, and I told her to ask if he wanted to hang out with our friend group. He said that he was dating a girl, so I figured it wasn’t meant to be. One week later, she talked to him again, and he told her that he had broken up with his girlfriend. Sad news for her, but great news for me, haha.

As October approached, we were preparing for our annual Halloween haunted house date. I decided to ask Conner to go with me, but I was nervous. I called Conner while he was practicing because I knew he wouldn't answer, and I left him a voicemail asking him to go with me. We had a great time on the date, and soon after, we started dating exclusively. After a year and a half, we got married.

It didn’t take me too long to decide upon behavioral science with an emphasis in psychology. I wanted to be a therapist for the longest time, and sometime around my junior year, I learned about sports psychology because we had a sports psychologist who talked to the team. I immediately fell in love with the idea of being a sports psychologist because it coupled my interests in psychology and sports.

During the last semester of my senior year, I was trying to identify careers that would fit my skill set and allow me to help other people. I was working at a residential treatment center for teenage girls to see if I enjoyed that area of behavioral health. That job was full of surprises. I never knew what to expect each day. At that same time, I took a social work class. I loved everything about that class. It was taught by an amazing professor that made me consider pursuing a career in social work. After graduating from UVU, I started working for Child Protective Services — and that's where I am today.

I thought my job at the residential treatment center was hard, but this job is even harder. When I first started working in this job, I came to the sad realization that we can only help people when they want to be helped. We care about these people, and it is hard to see them block the way to their happiness and success. The best we can do is wait by their side until they come around.

Right now I am gaining experience, working with people in a variety of settings, and my end goal is still to be a sports psychologist. My husband is in his last year at UVU and will soon be applying to medical school.

We are so grateful for the opportunities that attending UVU allowed us to have. We wouldn't even be together if it wasn't for UVU.