Latest / The BIG LIFE / The BIG LIFE S5E3 | What Nobody Tells You About Being a College Athlete
Transcript
- 0:04Hi guys, welcome back to another episode of the Big Life Podcast.
- 0:09We officially have another week of college soccer down in the books,
- 0:12but this week is definitely going to be a little different since now school is starting.
- 0:17Yeah, soccer was definitely already a lot for the both of us and then we actually
- 0:21have to be students again. And I actually just moved into a dorm,
- 0:23which is a new background right now. So there's a lot going on.
- 0:26New room, new people, new routine, class of starting, soccer,
- 0:29you know, everything is just starting to feel a little bit more real.
- 0:32So today we're going to catch you guys up on our games and talk about kind of
- 0:37what this week has felt like, how we feel about school starting,
- 0:41some games we're watching on college soccer, and then give you guys an actual
- 0:44check-in on like where we're at.
- 0:46You want to start with soccer, how was your week and games and everything,
- 0:49how you felt, everything.
- 0:51Go on. The whole last week I was away in St. Louis and then Memphis,
- 0:56but We stayed out in St. Louis like I think it was four days and then Memphis
- 1:02for two and we beat St. Louis two to one.
- 1:06It was a really good game. And then we beat Memphis as well, two to one.
- 1:10And so that's really good, you know, obviously being two away games,
- 1:14like in the beginning, it's hard and you're gone and you're sleeping like in
- 1:18a different bed, like in a hotel room and different food, whatever, draining.
- 1:24But both games are pretty good. And I mean, I played a half of each of the games.
- 1:28And in the first game, I got an assist on a corner.
- 1:31It was pretty good. it was like the first two we were still I was so hyped I
- 1:35was like oh my god I've been working on this,
- 1:38and mind you it was like so the corner was on the left side my teammate passed
- 1:43me the ball and I dribbled and then hit a cross which is funny because like last week
- 1:49we did like a crossing practice and I genuinely like I couldn't cross if my
- 1:53teammates are getting mad at me they're like someone switch her out I did the same thing I tried
- 1:58they put me on corners like somebody I literally walked off the field and I
- 2:01was screaming because I wasn't hitting the field.
- 2:05It hit, like, the wall behind her goal. Anyways, go on. That just was, like, reminded me.
- 2:09I was like. No, but it was just the crosses. Like, I do corners on the right
- 2:12side most of the time because it's, like, left foot in swinger,
- 2:14and I'm really good at those.
- 2:16Like, I'm very solid, but I just can't hit a cross from the other side that
- 2:20is the same as my corners.
- 2:22Mine was on the left, so it would be an outswinger for a righty.
- 2:26And I just could not. It was either too low. It wasn't hitting the back.
- 2:29Like, it's just not my special seat. But, like, I'm going to pull the clip because
- 2:31it was so funny. I was pissed. I literally walked off the field.
- 2:33I was like, oh, hell no. Sub me out. Like, I could not do it.
- 2:36Oh, we played Duke number three. And then we played Pepperdine.
- 2:40Didn't go so hot the first half. But then we were losing three down in the first half.
- 2:45And honestly, we deserved it. Like, they came out on our ass and really just
- 2:48dug the knife in, I guess.
- 2:50It was bad. But, like, great way for us to get slapped in the face.
- 2:54Like, we came off an exhibition game against San Diego State.
- 2:57So, it was just a good, like, wake-up call for us. But the second half definitely
- 3:01improved. I played, like, 60-something minutes. Genuinely.
- 3:06Genuinely played, like, 65 minutes, maybe. So, I felt good about both games.
- 3:10But a good team. Like, defense was really hard.
- 3:13And I already lose a lot of energy when I'm thinking about the defense.
- 3:17So, yeah. But we did really well the second half.
- 3:19It looked a lot better than the first half. So proud of that.
- 3:22And then we traveled up to Malibu,
- 3:24to play Pepperdine Beautiful feel literally you could see there the ocean like
- 3:28off the field and surprisingly my teammate Charlotte her dad coaches there It
- 3:32was kind of like such a cute game because like her family was there and then
- 3:35she was like playing against her dad Which is pretty dang cool,
- 3:37but we did tie that game better We're moving in the right direction,
- 3:41but definitely things we still have to improve on.
- 3:43It's just like chemistry We need to get get better at but I'm gonna jump back
- 3:47on the soccer thing for one second the Memphis game was like,
- 3:51That one was pretty crazy. One of my friends sent a video and they were playing like our win.
- 3:57That goes to Auburn. So an Alabama thing was playing on the screen at Auburn, which is funny.
- 4:03But basically in the last seven seconds, we scored on a free kick to beat Memphis.
- 4:07And we basically, we broke their 41 game winning streak at home.
- 4:12And they have only lost three games at home since 2019. Dang,
- 4:16that's low-key insane. Wow.
- 4:19I'm proud of you guys. but going to school I start tomorrow well Wednesday it'll
- 4:24be different on the on the podcast because our podcast comes out on Thursdays
- 4:28so I'm starting on Wednesday and I mean for me,
- 4:33school here is not as demanding if that makes sense because I have like two
- 4:38online classes and three in person so one of my classes is Monday Wednesday
- 4:42Friday and it's at 11 so I can wake up whenever I want.
- 4:45My classes on Tuesday and Thursday are like 9.30 and then I have another at like 10.
- 4:51When's your practice block? Are you guys in the night?
- 4:543.30. Tomorrow our practice is going to be 98 degrees. Feels like 101 plus humidity. I'm sorry.
- 5:02That's why you choose SoCal. Remember that girls when you pick your school.
- 5:07Yo, no shade. No shade. I like the humidity. It's nice in the mornings.
- 5:10Okay. It feels like you have a nice hug.
- 5:13When you walk out your door. Who is complaining about 98 degrees?
- 5:15Not me. I'm complaining about 82. Anyways, what's your major? Like, what are you?
- 5:20I'm double majoring in sport management and psychology. Okay, period. Period.
- 5:27That's nice, bro. I'm in legal studies. You would never guess.
- 5:31Every time I literally tell someone like someone that I meet for new or like
- 5:34new and they barely heard me talk for 10 seconds, they're like.
- 5:37I'm like, what's my, what do you think my major is? And they're like communications,
- 5:40bro. I actually was going to say that.
- 5:42Right. Everyone guesses it. I'm like, bro, no, I probably, but like,
- 5:46I don't even know how I got into it.
- 5:47Like I just, every, but low key, everything in my classes is very interesting.
- 5:51I can't even lie. Like I took a criminal law class and it was pretty fire,
- 5:55but very stressful because there's so much reading.
- 5:58And I, I would have said, I hate reading like a month ago, but I honestly have finished two books.
- 6:05I'm on my reading grind. So like I'm kind of excited for school to start,
- 6:08but we start on Monday next week. So yeah. What do you think is going to be
- 6:12like the hardest part when you actually start school and like balancing out
- 6:16your soccer schedule and then school as well?
- 6:19I think it's just time management. Like you probably know.
- 6:22I think last year I was gone for a world cup, like pretty much the whole entire year.
- 6:26So, and I also was gone previously for the Olders World Cup the other year.
- 6:30So I have kind of gone through school, like in and out, in and out,
- 6:34and through online. So I think now that being here, I know I'm going to be here,
- 6:38the whole entire year. I think it'll be a little easier than it was for me last year, just because...
- 6:42I can actually go to class physically, like look at a professor instead of just
- 6:46looking at online and opening tabs and finishing assignments and stuff.
- 6:49So honestly, I think it's just like the time management. And I've been pretty
- 6:54good at that because I was homeschooled. So like doing your stuff on your own
- 6:57was always pretty easy for me. Yeah, I think just getting back into the routine
- 7:01is going to be pretty nice. But what about you?
- 7:03Well, for me, like I have ADHD, so I'm very like spastic and it's always jumbled
- 7:09but I use Notion and I every single semester I've had this assignment tracker
- 7:14and so for every single class I put all the assignments all the exams
- 7:19and it basically has like each of their due dates
- 7:23and so I kind of just like make sure every single week like I can see when everything's
- 7:27due and I'm completing everything like two days before it's due most of the
- 7:31time and if I'm not it's like I'm intentionally pushing that one back because I'm like, okay,
- 7:35I'm going to do all these other ones so I can save this one for last because
- 7:38I just don't want to do it.
- 7:39But it's not like I'm like, oh, I don't, I can't do it. Like,
- 7:42I need to push it, you know? It's like I'm intentionally putting it at the end.
- 7:45I had, when I first got here, they gave me a learning specialist and they,
- 7:48like, make a calendar for you.
- 7:50USC's, like, really good at academic health. Like, I never feel like I'm going
- 7:54to fail unless I genuinely am not, like, putting in the work, which...
- 7:58Was an issue in high school but now it's like I got to get it done if I want
- 8:01to play so do you think like school will help with soccer because I know like
- 8:05some people like to disconnect from it they like to think about something else
- 8:08hang out with different people like do you think it'll help you or do you think it'll be like a,
- 8:13kind of like a distraction I mean I think it's like I kind of keep them very
- 8:17separate does that make sense like if I'm doing soccer I'm doing soccer doing
- 8:23school I'm doing school I'm doing some of my friends I'm doing some of my friends
- 8:25And so it's not like I'm trying not to think about,
- 8:29like, put too much pressure on myself.
- 8:30And if I'm doing my homework, I'm not going to be like, oh, I need to do really
- 8:34good on my game, you know.
- 8:35Because I need to focus on doing my homework. I mean, I think I am good at separating
- 8:40it so it won't be a distraction.
- 8:43That's good. That's good. Are you excited for these sacrifices you're going to have to make?
- 8:48You want to better explain that, like sleep and your social life.
- 8:51Ooh, like in the school-wise or just because I'm busy?
- 8:54In general like because now we just do training and then go to bed.
- 8:58Like go to train we literally train lift and then go eat whenever you want with
- 9:03your friends like at the dining hall but now it's gonna be like okay gotta shower
- 9:07gotta go to class go to class train gotta go to class again so like now it's like,
- 9:12you don't get to stay time on your phone you don't get to wake up you get to
- 9:15wake up whenever you want but I still have like 8 a.m 9 a.m before training
- 9:19because our practice block is from one to five.
- 9:22Nice. I mean, usually when I have lift, it's like two to five,
- 9:25you know, it's like kind of similar, but I mean, what am I going to sacrifice? Probably social life.
- 9:33I like my sleep. I like taking naps. Like today after practice,
- 9:36I was so slumped. Our practice was two and a half hours. So.
- 9:40And it was hot. How hot was it? Let me look. Go look, go look, go look.
- 9:45I don't really have to worry about that. I was at the beach today.
- 9:47It was pretty nice. Whatever. We practiced at 930.
- 9:51It was 85 when we stepped on the field. It was 92 when we stepped off. I'm sorry.
- 9:57Well, hey, you know what? I talked to my friend Evan when the Florida State
- 10:00day won last year. She plays right now. And she was like, honestly,
- 10:04I don't really know how we won. We just train in the peak heat all the time.
- 10:07And, like, that got them. so I was like honestly it's kind of a perk but it'd
- 10:12be a big adjustment for me for both of us you you went through it but I honestly
- 10:15don't know if I would get through that,
- 10:17honestly like heat like when we played Memphis it was 95 degrees when we stepped
- 10:22on the 94 when we stepped on the field
- 10:25but I didn't think about the heat at all when I was playing because I'm so used
- 10:28to playing in it and I'm pretty fit so I was just it cooled down though because
- 10:31the sunset but it's still like 85 so it's still warm and also you're sweating
- 10:34so it kind of just might bring you a little bit more,
- 10:38i talked about my new house earlier this is my new apartment but it honestly
- 10:41made college feel real because i actually had to pay rent for the first time there,
- 10:46we go god i'm actually an adult now turn 18 and all of a sudden i have to freaking
- 10:50day rent and stuff and like i was figuring out like all kinds of utilities and
- 10:54stuff and i'm like bro i don't want to do those numbers and now i live across the hall front or across,
- 10:59i don't live across the hall anymore from allie murphy which is our one of our
- 11:02really good friends both of us.
- 11:05Did moving into the dorm like make you excited or were you like oh like i actually
- 11:10like you know like live here now like this is different you know honestly did you do dorm life,
- 11:16Yeah. For a half a semester or semester? No, for a semester and a half,
- 11:20actually. Semester and a half. Okay, okay, okay.
- 11:22Well, you know that it's like kind of limiting. At least ours,
- 11:24we have key cards to get in everywhere. Like to the building,
- 11:27you have to get into the building with the key card. Then you have to scan in
- 11:30with the front person to the key.
- 11:31Before you even touch the elevator, then you touch the elevator,
- 11:33scan in with the key card.
- 11:35And you have to go upstairs, whatever, walk, touch the key card.
- 11:36So low-key was just like very limiting. And now here, I just, two keys and I'm in.
- 11:40And it's a lot better. But like, honestly, I feel a lot better.
- 11:44I feel like good being in a new space. I also don't have a roommate anymore.
- 11:47So that didn't go very well for me just because of,
- 11:52just different you know when you when you grow up you grow up a little differently
- 11:55so I grew up a different way she grew up a different way it just didn't mix
- 11:58as much still we're still friends but like it didn't work as well so I'm actually
- 12:03really excited to be in my own like space and have,
- 12:06just everything kind of wow what's something you're like excited about like
- 12:09now that you're living alone like I don't know I guess just enjoying more alone
- 12:13time like I think that when I was homeschooled or like when I wasn't with people
- 12:17I was always by myself and then coming to college it was like,
- 12:20you know you're always with your teammates all the time so it's like I want
- 12:23a space to be away and even if I would go to my dorm like I would still have
- 12:27three roommates I don't know I'm just excited to like.
- 12:30Be back to enjoying my own time and like being comfortable just being in silence
- 12:33and like being alone I am so glad I did not have to share a room with somebody
- 12:39because my dorm that I'm in like our dorms are actually
- 12:42really really nice they're super big And we had like suite style dorms.
- 12:46So the first one I was in, it was like you walk in, kitchen,
- 12:50living room, and then there's four rooms and there's two on each side and two
- 12:53bathrooms. And like, it's your own room.
- 12:56And then same with the one I was in the all of last year.
- 13:00It was a three person. So you walk in, living room, there was a washer,
- 13:03dryer, stove, oven, fridge, microwave, you know, three rooms, two bathrooms.
- 13:10Pretty dang nice. So, like, I had the luxury of, like, my own space and own
- 13:15time. And, like, I'm sure it's just, like, super hard to not be able to have
- 13:20that alone time when you really need it.
- 13:22Yes, yes. Sometimes, especially because, like, you know, when you go through
- 13:25your freshman fall, it's not...
- 13:27As picture perfect as you want it to go. And I think mine honestly hit me a
- 13:30little harder than I'd expected it to go. You know, when you're with your roommates,
- 13:34like this player could be playing 90 minutes, this player could be playing zero.
- 13:38In my room, one was injured, one was playing zero, one was playing 90, I was playing 45.
- 13:43So it's like kind of hard because you can't talk about things because you guys
- 13:46didn't experience the same things. One's going through a mental battle with herself.
- 13:50One's going questioning if she's good enough to play because the coach doesn't
- 13:53want to put her on the field so it's kind of
- 13:56it's kind of hard to be especially like you're all just getting there a new
- 13:59environment new everything so it's kind of hard to be in that room and like
- 14:02you said when you need your own time like it's kind of hard to separate that's
- 14:06your space like your space is shared so
- 14:08yeah it's honestly kind of same like in my house like last year I mean obviously
- 14:13we have our own spaces but we all are obviously in a house together so we do
- 14:16see each other every day and like
- 14:18I was playing a lot in the beginning and then one of my roommates wasn't playing
- 14:22at all in the beginning and then it like flipped like she was playing more at
- 14:25the back end and I was playing this in the back end and then my other roommate
- 14:28like redshirted her first year because she came in like a full year early
- 14:32and like so she wasn't playing at all it was just kind of like hard and we all
- 14:36had our struggles but like thankfully like
- 14:38we could all talk about it together because we could obviously be in our own
- 14:42space and think about it first and then then come out and be like hey like whatever,
- 14:47but yeah I think that's like I mean it's good it's good for us to kind of be
- 14:52with your teammates and like.
- 14:53Be able to get it all out but same time like I do think being alone and thinking and,
- 14:59not hashing out on your teammates I know for me I'm one of those people that's
- 15:01like if you talk to me when I'm mad
- 15:03something wrong is gonna come out so don't talk to me so like that's I think
- 15:07that's even nicer now because like we're gonna go through different struggles
- 15:10being sophomores and stuff so speaking on that like how's everything feeling
- 15:14out of 10, like your body out of 10, your body,
- 15:17physically out of 10, mentally, like confidence, like how is all of that?
- 15:22My body, honestly, is feeling like, I mean,
- 15:27our past couple trainings, I don't know why, but we decided that we were going
- 15:31to do like two hour, two and a half hour trainings the past two days,
- 15:34which doesn't make sense because we didn't really do that at all last year.
- 15:36So I'm kind of confused what's going on.
- 15:38So I've just been so drained the past couple of days and everyone I was like, you can tell.
- 15:43And so my body right now is probably like, like a seven coming off of the games
- 15:48it was honestly like I feel I feel pretty fresh like I don't have any knocks or injuries so,
- 15:54which thankfully for that and then mentally like for soccer like I mean like
- 15:59even though I only played a half of each game I know I'm playing well and I
- 16:04can't control if my coach puts me in or not and he had a conversation with me of,
- 16:08like that I am doing well and he's just like seeing how other people are playing
- 16:12in that position I'm like okay that's fine I'm okay with that because I can't
- 16:16control what you're doing but I can control this when I go on the field I'm
- 16:19doing what I can and I have been
- 16:21and obviously there's things I can improve to but I think like mentally like
- 16:24I'm in a good I'm in a good place like probably like a nine,
- 16:27that's good that's so good I think for me at least like mentally this this past
- 16:32game I was in my head insane like we went over a game plan and then.
- 16:37On the field it kind of switched so like mid game I was, my head was spinning.
- 16:41So this past practice yesterday, like on our reserves was, I was just so frustrated.
- 16:46I didn't do anything. I was with the recovery group because I played like a
- 16:48certain amount of minutes, but I was like in my head the entire time.
- 16:51And it's supposed to be like just rolling out, just relaxing.
- 16:53So I think like mentally at first, like I was probably like eight.
- 16:58Going to reserves yesterday, probably, like, three dropped insanely.
- 17:02And then I had a conversation with my coach about what it was and,
- 17:06you know, like, how I felt yesterday.
- 17:08Because, honestly, at the game, I felt useless. Like, I felt I wasn't being used productively.
- 17:13And, like, I literally told them, I was like, when I'm not here,
- 17:16I feel like as an average player, I'd probably just be – I'd probably be worse
- 17:19than an average player if I'm not excelling to my best.
- 17:23But, like, I talked to my coach about it. We went through it.
- 17:25And they do a good job of, like, trying to mediate my emotions.
- 17:28Because I let those get the best of me sometimes. So mentally now I'm like at an eight.
- 17:33So we're back to where I was, but it literally was like,
- 17:36what did I say? It was like 8-3-8. So I'm back kind of where I was.
- 17:40And then we have training tomorrow. So it's good to have an off day.
- 17:42But body-wise, probably like 8. I'm not really feeling much.
- 17:46What about like confidence? Is that going well for you?
- 17:50Yeah, I would say my soccer confidence is pretty high. And like,
- 17:53I know exactly like what I need to work on in my own vision.
- 17:57And like, then I feel like obviously not like 100% playing like myself because
- 18:03in the way that my team plays, like,
- 18:06we are an sec team and sec teams tend to be more direct and honestly we have
- 18:10gotten a lot better at keeping the ball but i'm we're not at a point where.
- 18:15We're looking to find the six first we're looking to play through the midfield
- 18:18first it's like we're making still passes but it's on the outside and i'm like
- 18:23hey like i'm right here like i'm wide open find me please,
- 18:26but it's not like they can't play me they're just they don't see it yet and
- 18:30so it'll still take time for like and I can't control that part like it just
- 18:34comes with time and like I feel like when I've gotten on the ball like I've
- 18:37made good decisions and like my defense is,
- 18:40one of my strong things and I'm always like but I go and block shots like I'm
- 18:44going up and winning my headers and things like that for me I have this thing
- 18:47like I write down on my arm where
- 18:49I have been every game and I've been writing down like play big be you
- 18:53because like that's all I can be because I'm not the biggest like you're not the biggest and so like
- 18:58you have to play a certain way and especially since I'm on an SEC once we get into SEC play.
- 19:03Like, they're all super big girls, so I have to play a certain way.
- 19:06But as long as I play big and be myself, like, I do good.
- 19:10Yeah, dude, I respect that. That's, that's pretty far. I think,
- 19:14like, when you, when you're saying you write quotes and stuff,
- 19:16like, I have been telling my team, some of my teammates play free,
- 19:20because I feel like sometimes they, like you're saying, like,
- 19:24they don't look in the middle.
- 19:26And it's like, for me, it's like, guys, don't worry about anything that happens
- 19:29on the outside. It's like, play you. Like, I was just saying,
- 19:31like, whatever you see, play it, because I don't want you to,
- 19:34like, be overthinking. And I think that gets into a lot of girls' heads.
- 19:38It's gone into my head before. Like, last year, I think I was,
- 19:40not being myself because I was doing exactly what the coaches wanted.
- 19:43I was like, guys, you are on the field.
- 19:44The 11 that are on the field are those that matter. The ones on the bench are
- 19:47supporting those that matter at that time.
- 19:49We obviously need the girls that are on the bench, and they're there,
- 19:51and they're game changers and stuff.
- 19:53But I just always try and tell them, you guys got to play, feel the ball, want the ball.
- 19:59You should want the ball. So I do respect that from you. BU play big.
- 20:04That's pretty fire, bro.
- 20:06Enough about us. Do you want to talk about some good games coming up?
- 20:10Yes i would say like let's see what games my date on thursday versus tcu um.
- 20:17Actually wait should we talk about rankings first yeah hold up i have i just
- 20:22posted on my story because we're in the top 25 what are you guys at 18,
- 20:27yeah we went from so we were unranked but we were on the rp
- 20:30like ncda rpi i don't know how to explain it how do you explain what rpi is
- 20:34it's like all the points of like like your win loss whatever and like who you
- 20:38play it like moves your rpi certainly yeah yeah it uses like
- 20:43actual knowledge nice numbers yeah but this one's like the united soccer coaches
- 20:48top 25 and then also on top drawer soccer top 25 we are also 18 nice
- 20:54that's moving up the ranks yeah so,
- 20:56we played memphis who was 21 and we beat them so and i think because like because
- 21:02like we beat their 41 game winning
- 21:04streak or whatever at home like i think that's what it moved us up so far,
- 21:07but we're playing tcu that's ranked 15th now so that should be a really good
- 21:12game and then arkansas north carolina should be good north carolina has been
- 21:16doing actually like pretty good but they're playing arkansas who,
- 21:20like usually is pretty good but they dropped off the rank like they're off the
- 21:24top didn't they just lose to someone yeah they lost to baylor four to one and
- 21:31then they tied loyola maryland one-to-one,
- 21:35but yeah and then also like vanderbilt versus memphis which on the 21st yeah
- 21:42um let's see is vandy on the ranking yeah.
- 21:45They are they're fourth and then memphis is is obviously 21st and vandy's like
- 21:52a really good i don't know how i didn't watch their game last week but i mean
- 21:55they just they were really good last year and then memphis honestly when we
- 21:58play them, they're a good team as well, but
- 22:00we'll see if Memphis can,
- 22:03pop back from losing to yours truly.
- 22:07There's also Florida, Florida State coming up, which Florida State is always good.
- 22:12Yeah, Florida had, didn't they have a coaching change?
- 22:14Oh, they took Mississippi State's coaching staff. They took,
- 22:17like, eight of Mississippi State's players as well.
- 22:20Oh, I didn't know that. Actually, I feel like I did know that. Crazy.
- 22:26I think they should be good this year, honestly. Let's get a score prediction
- 22:30for Arkansas and North Carolina.
- 22:32North Carolina, the talent they have, they should blow out teams.
- 22:36They have so much talent on that roster. I'm like, oh, my, wow.
- 22:38I'm going to go, like, 4-1.
- 22:42North Carolina. I was going to say 4-1, too, honestly. Okay,
- 22:45copy. Okay, so. Okay, that's what I was thinking, though.
- 22:49Okay, so it's fun. Alabama, TCU, I hope you guys win.
- 22:53Never watched you guys play, though, so I honestly don't. I've never watched
- 22:56TCU. Actually, yeah, I have. Oh, tune in.
- 23:00I think we're going to win again 2-1. Randy Memphis, I think.
- 23:05I don't know. I don't really know those teams. I think 1-1. I'm going to go
- 23:091-1. Don't know who's winning. 1-0.
- 23:11Florida, Florida State. Florida State. Yeah.
- 23:15I know they're like number one. They always start kind of slow,
- 23:17though. At least that's what one of my teammates was saying.
- 23:20Like, they don't like go crazy right off the bat. They're saving it, bro. Chill.
- 23:26No, I think it'll be 2-0. Yeah. Okay, that's fair.
- 23:30I'll stick with that one, too. Okay, but we'll see. We'll come back to that the next episode.
- 23:37You want me to go into what nobody tells you about college sports?
- 23:41You know, get some little questionnaire going?
- 23:44Yes, I got you. One question I have here. What's been the biggest adjustment
- 23:48that has nothing to do with soccer?
- 23:50Just college. Probably just college in general. I go to Alabama, right?
- 23:54And the greek life here is.
- 23:59Insane but so bid day was the other day and that's like when there's like they
- 24:04have a rush you know that whole thing and everyone like tries to get in the
- 24:07sorority house if they want and then bid day you either get what you want or
- 24:10you get a different house or you don't get picked at all,
- 24:15and then obviously there's also like the frats too which that's different like
- 24:17their rushing is different i don't even want to know what goes i've.
- 24:22Heard Some things don't really want to know, but that's like been the biggest
- 24:26adjustment in coming to Alabama is like the difference between the athletes,
- 24:31the NARPs and the Greek life people.
- 24:33Okay. That's that. Hey, that's a great pool. That's a great pool.
- 24:36I honestly, I don't know.
- 24:37I never really go all ever, like ever. I've never done that even since I was
- 24:42like little. I'm just a little guy that sits at home all the time.
- 24:45So for me, with soccer, it's just people in general.
- 24:50I never went, I went to freshman year of high school and like,
- 24:54you're just a little baby. Like you don't talk to anyone. You don't,
- 24:57you're just a freshman. Like, you know, you're scared, whatever.
- 24:59When you're in like high school, you're going from middle school to high school.
- 25:01So that's honestly how it is for me. I don't really talk to anybody.
- 25:05Honestly, I've gotten better at it. but I that's that's probably the biggest thing it's just like,
- 25:09dealing with people dealing with professors I've never really had a teacher
- 25:13I've only had a couple teachers in my entire schooling life so it's kind of
- 25:17that's low-key probably the biggest difference but what's something you wish
- 25:20somebody told you before you got here or before you got to Bama,
- 25:24like people in college can switch up like that like in like one day like,
- 25:29it's like like your teammates can too like it's honestly and like I feel like
- 25:34at home you kind of find that out like it happens to at home but it's just like
- 25:38in college like everyone's trying to figure out who they are like what they
- 25:42want to do who they want to surround themselves with
- 25:45and like sometimes people are gonna be people,
- 25:50yeah I fully agree with like that people are trying to find themselves I think
- 25:54if you haven't kind of established some sort of.
- 25:57Identity or some sort of thing you a rule book for yourself then people can
- 26:02go off script really fast and i think like for me growing up my parents did
- 26:05so well with me like putting me on a path and so it wasn't that hard for me to kind of,
- 26:10stay on the path the path that i want like it's not even like they put me on
- 26:14that path and i have to stay with that path like the path that they created
- 26:16is the path that honestly will lead me to like where i want to go obviously
- 26:20which is like playing pro but i do agree with like people switching up just because of,
- 26:25environment new environment, new people, new everything.
- 26:27But what's something about college that is way better than you expected?
- 26:31Our dining hall food. Today, we had barbecue platter.
- 26:36Oh my goodness, I had this pulled pork sandwich, mac and cheese, and cornbread.
- 26:40Okay, last freaking question. Do you feel like a college student yet since now
- 26:44you're a sophomore in college? How do you feel? Do you feel like you're getting in the groove?
- 26:48Yeah, I've low-key felt like a college student before I even got to college
- 26:52like a college athlete if that makes sense because the stuff I would do at home
- 26:55before I even came to college is like the same stuff that I do now so I feel kind of like,
- 27:00like I already know how it works and honestly high school was harder because
- 27:04of the hours you had to be at high school and now you know like my Monday Wednesday
- 27:08Friday classes hopping off school you want to kind of talk about what we have coming up,
- 27:13and how excited you are for your next coming games,
- 27:17well who are we playing well obviously we're playing TCU and then we play we're
- 27:20going to play Nebraska, and I have zero clue how they play.
- 27:24We play them too, I think. Hey, we do. We do play them at Nebraska.
- 27:29We have a Western Nebraska-Iowa stretch in the span of like a week.
- 27:33That's going to be really long. And who else?
- 27:36Well, TCU on Thursday. Oh, and TCU. Okay. Don't worry. I'll give you some insights
- 27:40on how Nebraska plays. Okay. Hey.
- 27:42Hey, thanks. You're the freaking best. You're the freaking best.
- 27:45Hey, we have BYU at BYU. Okay.
- 27:48Going to be a tough game. Very tough environment. The environment,
- 27:51I think, is what makes the game 10 times harder. The altitude as well.
- 27:55But Mexico City is 10,000 feet.
- 27:58This is 5,000 feet. So if I was fine for the first five days,
- 28:02I feel like I'll be chilling. But I was still honestly gassed. Like you could tell.
- 28:05What's one thing you need to be better at this week? Generalist.
- 28:08Maybe being a little more focused at training.
- 28:11I'm a little troll, bro. Like I like to mess around. I like to have fun but
- 28:15I don't think messing around messes with my with me at all but it might mess
- 28:20around with the environment a little bit like,
- 28:22I know maybe some of my teammates need a little bit more focus on some certain
- 28:25things like when we're doing technical and I know that that's,
- 28:27a piece of cake for me like I can joke around and talk and tickle people and
- 28:32make noises like I it doesn't matter for me but like for other people I guess
- 28:36maybe just dialing in a little bit more so that their environment is uh smooth yeah what about you.
- 28:42Probably better communication with my parents i feel like i've been a little mean oh,
- 28:48that's a good one they love me and they're just trying to help me out they like
- 28:53give me feedback and you know sometimes you already know the feedback and you
- 28:56don't want to hear it but like i just need to like take in me like thanks for
- 28:59thanks for like you know watching my games thanks for whatever yada yada oh
- 29:03yeah and they literally just love you like that's we should we gotta come up with our goals,
- 29:08okay okay okay okay you go first i'm gonna get,
- 29:12one assist okay i'm gonna try and get one assist i'm going and then what i want
- 29:16to really work on though is,
- 29:19like checking my shoulders like doing it more so i know i'm in the right space
- 29:24and then i think trying to be more like demanding because if i want the ball
- 29:28like i have to find a way to get it and if that means yelling at someone or
- 29:32talking to them later and being like hey like i'm right here you need to find me please.
- 29:39Hey, I like that. I would say for me, shots, getting shots, I'm going to shoot
- 29:43for three. I'm going to shoot for three.
- 29:45I'm in the situation where I'm currently playing 10 and six.
- 29:49If I'm playing the 10, we have to figure out a way to play the ball in between
- 29:52lines because that's where my strongest at is facing a back line and running at a back line.
- 29:56And Duke, I think, did props to them. Don't want to bring them up.
- 29:59But props to them, they found they were great at finding that line and running
- 30:03at our back line. That's a scary picture to look at, Especially like if you're
- 30:06the six, I know, you know, that feeling when someone's when you're tracking
- 30:09back and running after a 10.
- 30:10So I guess for me, if I'm playing the 10, it might be a little bit easier to
- 30:14get shots off. But if I'm playing the six, then I want to break lines as much as I can.
- 30:19If I'm it depends on what I'm playing, but I want to get three shots or I want to break.
- 30:23Five lines one whatever like five different times okay i like those i feel like
- 30:28that's all for this week and thank you guys all for listening to this week's big life episode,
- 30:35make sure you're following girls soccer network on instagram for more and you
- 30:39can find me on tiktok and instagram page thompson underscore 30 make sure like
- 30:43we have our games on espn plus and so,
- 30:47my game on thursday i don't know if this will come out before my game but it's at 7 p.m,
- 30:52and then my game against nebraska on sunday is at 12 p.m so tune in and then
- 30:59tune in to jayden's games too,
- 31:01hey yeah we're on saturday at byu at 6 p.m i i don't know if utah is a different
- 31:06time but 6 p.m i can't maybe for sure if that's at pst or yeah you can find
- 31:11me on instagram and tiktok at jaydenrodriguez.7 but,
- 31:16hit the follow button, guys, for both of us, and continue to come back and watch
- 31:19us, because these are fun. Yes.