Jessica Roberts '14 Recruiting Profile

I started playing soccer when I was three years old. I instantly loved the sport and probably couldn't quit playing even if I had to. When I am on the field I feel free of every worry outside of soccer. Because of this, I was devastated when I was told that I was not allowed to play.  

            When I was in grade school, a classmate of mine fell on my head while playing football. Because of this incident I started getting migraines in middle school. The migraines progressively got worse. My sophomore year I was having a lot of blood pressure problems. My mother decided to bring me to Milwaukee for tests. At first, I was told not to play any contact sports until I was diagnosed. Without soccer I felt lost.

            About a year later, I was finally diagnosed. The doctors told me that I have a rare autonomic disorder called Disautonomia, my doctor  came to the conclusion that it was all from being in a migraine state for over a year. Disautonamia creates malfunctions in the autonomic system. It causes me to have very intense migraines, lack of sleep, low blood pressure, digestive issues, and caused me to have other diseases like POTS disease, and Raynaud's disease. At first I was told that soccer was going to be very hard to continue. I decided that I wasn't going to listen to the doctors. I look at my condition as a challenge. I have to work twice as hard for something than a healthy person would to get the same result, but I believe that will make me a better, and stronger person in the end. My goal is to be able to play college ball at a high level, and show people that they don't have to let a life struggle keep them from living their dream.