Shyla Burke '17 Recruiting Profile

     Since I was little I've always been interested in playing soccer. It all started with national trails and bumblebee style soccer which isn't the best, but I fell in love with the game. Throughout those years, my mom would help coach the team and when I moved on to a better club and team, she was still there to support me. My mom has been the one person who has influenced who I am the most because she has always  been there to support me and helps me to push through the pain. The hardest obstacle I've had to face so far is straining my hamstring and losing my starting position my freshman year of high school soccer. Throughout practice I had to push through the pain my leg was causing me and I fought and worked hard to gain back my spot. Eventually, I got my spot back and felt proud of what I had overcome when I heard my name get called as a starter for the game. 

     Through all of the years I've played I've learned that you can't give up. What I realized was I needed to build my mental strength so I could push myself to do better and better and to be there for my team even when I felt like I couldn't go any farther. I feel like I've done just that and I have noticed the change in myself too. I've become more vocal and more of a leader, and it reflects in my academics for school and extracurriculars. My goal for high school was to keep my GPA as close to a 4.0 as possible and to take classes that would challenge me. Also, my goal was to get involved in clubs and activities that would help my community. Now my goal for college is pretty much the same. Keep a high GPA, make sure I excel in all that I can do, and to provide service for my community. With soccer and school, I have always been a person who would take the coaches' or teachers' advice and make sure that I do that drill or task differently the very next time. I would go home and practice what they told me until I could do it to their standards. Now that my high school career is almost over, I'm looking foreword to playing soccer in college and helping my future teammates and coaches excel at what they love to play and coach.