A Word From Badger Marissa Sarkesian
October 03, 2007 | Women's Soccer
With just over one month of regular-season play remaining, four Wisconsin women's soccer players will share their stories on UWBADGERS.COM. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the players, the team and what life is like as a Badger student-athlete. Blogging first is senior Marissa Sarkesian.
Sarkesian, nicknamed 'Sark', is an English major at the UW who grew up in Canton, Mich., with two brothers and a sister. To begin her collegiate soccer career, the midfielder initially attended Texas A&M, but transferred to Wisconsin after two seasons. In three full seasons, Sark has tallied fourteen points off five goals and four assists. The senior has started all nine games for the Badgers this year and looks forward to the nine guaranteed games remaining in regular-season play.
Check back weekly to read upcoming blogs from Badgers Tricia Krombach, Krista Liskevych and Lynn Murray.
October 3, 2007
Nine games. Nine guaranteed games. After seventeen years of sweat and dedication, the remainder of my soccer career can be summed up in nine games. Nine. A number you can count on two hands. A number that is just too small for me to truly accept.
Older teammates always tell you to cherish your time in college because it goes by too fast. However, when you are an underclassman, you find yourself counting down the number of practices. You anticipate the last fitness session of the season. You are excited to complete that last spring practice because for once, you can be a normal student for a few weeks.
It is so easy to want a break from training because you know that there is still so much soccer left to be played. But, before you know it, three remaining seasons become two, and soon enough, these two quickly dwindle down to one and all you are left with is your senior year. My senior year and nine remaining games.
I still find it hard to accept that I am a senior, mostly because I don't want to accept it. For the last seventeen years of my life, soccer has defined who I am. It has been part of my personality. It is the reason why I choose to workout instead of doing so many other things. It is my excuse to not get a summer job. It is the explanation to why I have only been on two real vacations in my entire life.
Although I have dedicated so much of my time and sacrificed so many things for this sport, I have received so much more in return. The sport itself has taught me many lessons on life, on competition, and on how to fight and work for what you want. Even more than that, soccer has introduced me to countless teammates who have become amazing friends.
It is difficult to come to terms with the fact that I will soon have to say goodbye to something that has been part of my life and part of me for so long. My senior season is already half over. There have definitely been some hard times and things have not gone perfectly, but I have learned to love every minute of it.
Big Ten play is underway and this weekend we face two strong competitors in Penn State and Ohio State. Every game in the Big Ten is up for grabs and we are ready to battle for every inch of our home field. We are seeking to finish the second half of our season on a competitive high and extend our season into the Big Ten tournament and beyond. This is the only way in which the rest of the seniors and I can prolong our career beyond these nine remaining games.
We are prepared to lay it all on the line for just a few more opportunities to lace up our cleats, put on our Badger jerseys, and experience the rush that only comes from stepping onto the field and competing in the game we love.
Go Badgers!!!
