AI Answer
The challenges you mentioned, such as balancing academics and athletics, dealing with the pressure to be perfect, and facing new social and personal responsibilities, are common experiences for many college athletes. It's important to recognize that these challenges are a normal part of the transition to a higher level of competition and education. Seeking support from coaches, mentors, or counselors can be helpful in navigating these challenges and finding a healthy balance between athletic and academic responsibilities. Remember that it's okay to ask for help and that success doesn't always mean perfection. You've already taken the first step by acknowledging these challenges and working on them, so keep focusing on personal growth and finding ways to manage these difficulties.

Sophie Homan | Michigan Soccer

Yeah . Challenges that I faced before getting to college . I really struggled with perfectionism and nothing was good enough and every little thing that I did right , could have been a little bit better .

Sophie Homan | Michigan Soccer

It's the best school in the world . Something I've kind of learned while being at this level is you change as a person and you change as a player and you get faced with different challenges and you get faced with different obstacles as an athlete and as a person , and you kind of learn to settle in to who you are on and off the field . And I think for me , I learned more about taking care of myself , especially when you're younger and you're kind of going through it and you just train all the time and you're a kid and you throw yourself wherever you want , especially , I'm a goalie and you just throw yourself and it's so fun .

Sophie Homan | Michigan Soccer

Once you get to college , you , you're balancing more than you ever have before , which is so important and it's a whole new lifestyle that you have . So you have extra social um requirements , academics , all these extra things you didn't have when you were younger and balancing all of those things and getting the same amount of sleep that you should always be getting is super hard . But my teammates and I , we all live together and we're like , all right , it's 1030 .

Sophie Homan | Michigan Soccer

I really struggled with perfectionism and nothing was good enough and every little thing that I did right , could have been a little bit better . And I really held myself to this unrealistic stressful standard that made athletics more than just athletics . And my faith was huge in that , giving myself the permission to say , like you worked really hard today and you did something great today and people are proud of you .

Sophie Homan | Michigan Soccer

Like , it's very rewarding to see like your work , um , carry over into people , kind of wanting to reciprocate that back . So it's , it's scary and it's , it changes a lot of your life and it has big decisions on it , but it's important to recognize that you , you earned that and that's something that you get to enjoy , even though it's stressful . And yeah , it's just , it's really , it's interesting , but it's cool .