Walk your own path

At 16 years old, after finishing my junior year of high school, I received a call from a coach to take a shot at professional soccer in Poland. With little hesitation, I decided to pursue my dream and was on the flight to Europe within a couple of weeks. After a layover in Copenhagen, I was on a flight to Warsaw which would turn into my home for the next 16 months.

Being in a foreign country with limited knowledge of the language pushed me to be resourceful both on and off the football pitch. The first weeks were extremely difficult. I was having trouble communicating with people, the practices were extremely intense, and adjusting to my new apartment was a struggle; however, I was able to overcome the initial adversity and I started adjusting to my new reality. I was able to make new friends and become a beast at soccer, so I began my quest for a contract that would take me to the next level. The search turned out to be monumental, taking me on trials all over Europe and into Asia to no avail.

Injuries, visa restrictions, and being a newcomer everywhere I went put me at a disadvantage against local prospects. Nonetheless, after months of perseverance, one of my trials with a Ukrainian team turned into my first professional contract. My signing however, took place at the height of the Ukraine-Russia tensions while the war in Donetsk/Luhansk regions was also at its climax. At times, during practice, we would see soldiers training a couple of hundred feet away from us. A military jet would occasionally fly over us while we witnessed civilians from the east resettling in our city. Safety became a concern, so after a two hour conversation with my dad, we decided on the night before I was set to sign my first adult pro contract that I would go back to the US and evaluate my options. 

After landing in New York I was at a lowest point in my life - everything I had worked so hard for proved fruitless. At this point I could have given up and loathed my disappointment. Nevertheless I took a different path, I finished the remaining credits I needed to graduate high school and shortly after I received an offer from Monroe College to play D1 NJCAA soccer. The following autumn I was in Tyler, Texas fighting for the national championship as a starting goalkeeper. The following year I received my Associates degree in Business Administration with Honors and was selected to CoSIDA Academic All-America team, shortly after which I got recruited to play soccer at D1 Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. 

Fast forwarding to May of 2020, I graduated Marist College Magna Cum Laude B.S. in Business and Management with a concentration in Marketing. This week I completed my training and I received a full time offer from HomeAdvisor as an Inside Sales Representative, and I’m excited to begin my career.

Everyone’s journey is unique, just as everyone has their own clock and what's right for you might not be right for someone else. My suggestion to all of you is to not be afraid to make mistakes! Take that gap year, study abroad, do what you love, and most importantly follow your heart because it will be the opportunities that you don’t take that you will regret the most.

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”



-Ralph Waldo Emerson