Personal Statement
Hi, my name is Austin James and I have been playing soccer for 13 years - 10 years at the club level, and 5 of those years playing in Germany. I am currently in Germany playing for FK Pirmasens in the U19 German 2nd division of Regionaliga. Previously, my club team was SV Elversberg where we finished the 2015-16 season in the U17 Bundesliga, which is arguably the strongest league in the world. While at SVE I played against Bayarn Munich, Borussia Dortmund, etc. Finishing the 2014/2015 season we won the championship in our U16 division (Verbandsliga) in the state of Saarland, Germany. While in Germany I have had the opportunity to play on a traveling team, have played multiple tournaments in both Germany and in Barcelona, Spain, and have played three years with USYS Region 1 ODP Europe. In April of 2015 my team and I won the championship at a tournament in Barcelona, finishing 1st out of 58 teams. Soccer is a part of my everyday life, and I have an undeniable passion for the sport. This passion has also given me grit, a characteristic that I feel gives me an advantage on the field.
This was tested in early 2014 when I was told that I might never play soccer again due to a rare ganglion cyst that developed in my left leg, which caused nerve damage that then led to complete paralysis of my foot. Before the surgery, March 2014, 95% of my nerve was gone, and recovery time was said to be at least 2 years, with no promise of 100% recovery. I did not give up, worked harder than I ever had before, and within 3 months, I was back on the field helping my team bring home the championship at an invitational tournament here in Germany.
By the end of my junior year I had all 4 years of required math finished along with AP Environmental Science, German 4, and pre-calculus. Foreign language comes to me very easily, with me having completed multiple years in Spanish and skipping German 3 and going straight to German 4. With my love for math and sciences, I would like to pursue a degree where I could use these strengths of mine, possibly in the engineering, sciences, or forensics fields. I would also like to continue my foreign language studies.
I look forward to finding a great academic program that can benefit from my strengths as a soccer player. Growing as a student at the collegiate level, and as a player by becoming an integral part of a team, is my ultimate dream.
