Elizabeth O'Connell '15 Recruiting Profile

My name is Libby O’Connell, and I am a member of the class of 2015 at Potomac Falls High School in Sterling, Virginia.  It is my dream to play soccer at the collegiate level.  I have played several positions since the age of 4 ½ when I first started playing soccer, but I specialize in the goalie position.  I would like to tell you why I would be an asset to your school and your soccer team.

Persistence:  I won’t let go until I’ve achieved my goal…pun is intended!  I have faced many challenges in my life, but my philosophy is this:  I will work as hard as I can for as long as I can to overcome.  I train year-round as a goalie to improve my skills.

Attitude:  Let’s be clear…I want to win.  But I also want to enjoy the experience, bond with my team and feel at the end of a game, win or lose, that I have left it all on the field.  I don’t like to brood about losses, but I do take the negative and learn from it.  I only want to make a mistake once.

The It Factor:  I have the mental focus, grit and determination to muscle through tough situations.  I do not give up.  I was adopted at the age of 8 ½ months from a Russian orphanage.  The conditions were poor, the food was inadequate.  I was diagnosed as a case of “failure to thrive.”  Yet once adopted, I surprised everyone by becoming stronger, healthier and more active then they had ever imagined.  It took several years for me to catch up physically, but I have beaten those odds.

Academics:  I apply the same attitude toward my schoolwork as I do toward soccer.  I won’t give up.  School is challenging for me.  I have a visual processing learning disability that makes certain things far more difficult for me than for other students.  I have to study harder, be more organized, get more extra help and stay more on top of every assignment than many of my peers.  But I will not give up.  I have academic goals that I want to achieve.  I want to be a journalist.  Possibly a sports journalist.  I am willing to work as hard as I can to achieve this dream.

The Whole Package:  I am not just a soccer player.  I am a varsity-letter cross-country runner.  I am a Girl Scout.  I attend bible study and sing in my church choir.  I have earned a staff position on my school newspaper.  I have been an assistant CCD (Sunday school) teacher.  I dog-sit, baby-sit and take odd-jobs to make money.  I spent a year training for and completing a high-adventure program with the Boy Scouts (Philmont), which was 10 days of rugged, high-altitude hiking and camping.  In other words, I embrace life and try to enjoy every opportunity that comes my way.

I will commit myself to working just as hard, both in academics and athletics, at the college that I attend.

Thank you for your consideration.

Libby O’Connell