A student athlete on a different way of showing up for your team
“I recognized the fragility of my identity as an athlete,” said Juliana Rosen. “This ‘athlete’ title could be stripped from me at any time.” Photo: Alonso Nichols
‘No One Knew if I Could Even Kick a Ball’
My freshman fall, I was a walk-on to the soccer team. But before I could play, I tore my ACL. Suddenly, I needed to prove that I was a good teammate—without being able to play.
The hardest thing was being on this team with my best friends when what was bonding me to them was a sport I couldn’t play. A big part of trust-building is when an older girl sees a new girl and says, “I’m going to pass her the ball and she’s going to do something with it.” I couldn't participate in that, so I originally missed out on building some relationships.
Most people have never had a season-ending injury (let alone, ultimately, three of them). But having been injured so many times, I recognized the fragility of my identity as an athlete: this “athlete” title could be stripped from me at any time. To protect myself, I focus on things I can control. And in that moment, it was, how do I show up for this team?
I responded by reframing my role with the team. I couldn’t do anything; no one knew if I could even kick a ball. But I was at every practice and every game, getting to know the players and trying to be the best teammate I could. Once I ultimately was able to play post-injury, I focused on playing with joy and gratitude in hopes of spreading that mindset. That was a big part of who I was as a member of our team.
Flash forward to this year: There were two freshmen who play in the position I used to play. It was fun last fall to see them grow in that position and to be a resource for them, to help them on and off the field, to answer their questions and bring them back to the fundamentals, kind of serving as a mentor for them.
In the college recruiting process, the advice always is “Choose the school that you're happy at, even if you can’t play your sport.” I was, like, “Yeah, yeah, whatever” … But then I get here, and I’m not able to play soccer for part of my time at Tufts. And still, I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.
—Juliana Rosen, A25, former Tufts Women’s Soccer forward and current master’s in innovation and management student
Our Tufts is a series of personal stories shared by members of the Tufts community and featured on both Tufts Now and Instagram.
