Alex Hansen '20 Recruiting Profile

I can't stand the sight of blood - mine or anyone else's. In fact, I will probably never become a doctor. But there I was on the soccer field, flat on my back, blood gushing out of my nose, with no sight of it stopping.

I've replayed those last 15 minutes of the game, thinking that maybe it would change the outcome of my bloody situation - but no such luck. We started the game off strong, but during one of the early plays, an opposing player intercepted a pass and headed straight for me. I was ready for the inevitable shot on goal and I dove for the ball as it came flying towards me at seemingly hypersonic speed.

I'm a decent goalie, so when I dove for the ball, I managed to get my hands on it. Unfortunately, at the same time, another striker charged for the ball and wound up colliding, cleat first, into my nose - propelling me to the ground. Dazed and in shock, I simultaneously coughed as blood gushed uncontrollably out of my nose. The trip to urgent care confirmed that my nose was broken - but as the teams' only goalie I had one week to bounce back for the next game. Slightly ignoring the doctor's advice, that next Saturday I suited up with my new protective face mask and headed back to the field. My position as the goalie is already tough - having to catch and deflect balls that are flying at lightning speed - but now having to guard the goal with a broken nose took a whole new level of toughness. Surprisingly, I found that resilience in myself the very next weekend.

After bouncing back from a broken nose, I thought there was nothing that could stop me; that was until I got diagnosed with mononucleosis. What started as a simple low-grade fever quickly turned into a trip to the ER where I passed out at the check-in station. This time, I couldn't ignore the doctor's advice as she ordered me to stay in bed and rest - and that's about all I could do. The daily trip from my bed to the couch used up all the energy I had, so I spent the rest of the day alternating between sleeping, drinking fluids, taking ibuprofen, and sleeping more.

Typically, my weeks are usually jam-packed with soccer practice, goalie training and games so I don't have time to lay around and do nothing. However, with mono that is exactly what I did, and it took weeks of doing nothing to fully recover. I fell behind not just in sports but also in school and I had to work overtime to catch up. Breaking my nose and getting mono were the biggest obstacles I've had to overcome, but after this past year, I found a new level of resiliency and toughness that I didn't know I had. Even though I will encounter more issues in the future, I now believe that I'll be able to overcome whatever is thrown my way.  Although if I had a choice of ailment, somehow the sight of blood seems easier to stomach after all!