April 2, 2018
By Ellie Leek
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. - As accomplished as they were on the soccer field, the six seniors from Auburn's 2016 team may achieve even loftier heights after leaving the Plains.
Sixteen months after leading the Tigers to a record 17 wins and the program's first Elite Eight appearance, each member of the Class of '16 continues to make her mark.
"Everyone saw what an incredible success that class of seniors was on the field, leading us to the two best NCAA finishes in program history," Auburn coach Karen Hoppa said.
"What people didn't see was the academic side of this group. They were all tremendously focused on their respective degrees and future careers, even foregoing pro soccer opportunities. Because of that focus from all six girls, they are each having extraordinary success as young professionals. I could not be more proud of the difference each of them is making in their communities."
We tracked down each of the 2016 seniors to reminisce and discover how their experience as Auburn soccer players continues to benefit them.
Where are you now?
"I'm in Birmingham Alabama."
What are you doing?
"I'm living at home and going to Samford University. I'm in PT school there, about to start my second year out of three. I'm really interested in neurologic disorders with physical therapy so I'm kind of exploring that avenue right now."
Favorite Auburn soccer memory?
"One of my favorite memories was making the Sweet 16 the year I was injured and then the Elite Eight during my final season. Personally, my favorite game of my career was the first spring game in 2016 at LSU when I was allowed to play again following my ACL injury. I've never felt more emotion during a game in my life. It made me appreciate the wonderful people who pushed me and helped me return to play and it made me so thankful to play a sport that truly brought out my most passionate side. I'm forever thankful for the sport of soccer and I'm so lucky to have had the opportunity to play my five years at Auburn."
How did your experience as an Auburn student-athlete prepare you for life after Auburn?
"I think it prepared me to manage my time wisely and to carry a busy schedule and just be efficient in every area. It also taught me how to have balance, because obviously when I played at Auburn we were busy all the time with soccer and we had to figure out how to balance that, school, having a life and self-care. I think now that's carrying over to physical therapy school just because it's more school and no soccer, but school kind of covered that void. I think being a student-athlete prepared me for the amount of responsibility I have right now and it's been a very good transition from undergrad to post-graduate school."
Were it not for injuries, do you think you would have tried to play professional soccer?
"I think my junior year I felt like I was playing well enough that I might have been able to go pro if I had kept playing at that level. I might have tried if I wouldn't have had to of come back from injury, and then I got sick. It was just a whirlwind of things that happened which solidified for me that maybe playing pro wasn't where I was supposed to be."
Where are you now?
"I am in Sunrise, Florida."
What are you doing?
"I am working for an Accounting firm called KPG. They're located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but I usually travel around to the clients so I've been in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Tampa, all over."
Favorite Auburn soccer memory?
"My favorite memory at Auburn was definitely making it to the Elite Eight and getting to make history with the team."
How did your experience as an Auburn student-athlete prepare you for life after Auburn?
"I would say that being an athlete prepared me for the working world because with soccer we had to balance our sport as well as our social life and get our work done. We had a lot of things on our plate and now I work a lot of hours. Probably on average, I work 65 hours a week so it definitely prepared me for that. Knowing what it's like to work hard and keep going even when it gets hard, has helped a ton."
What made you decide not to play professionally?
"I really would have liked to have done it and I miss it a lot. I've signed up for two adult leagues, I miss it so much. I just didn't think it was worth turning down a really good job which will prepare me for the future, and give me a lot of opportunities. You don't know how long you're going to be able to play; especially with injuries, the uncertainty in that is what kept me from playing."
Where are you now?
"I'm in the great land of Dallas, Texas, back in my hometown."
What are you doing?
"Right now I'm a medical assistant for an Orthopedic doctor here in Plano and I'm working to get into Physicians Assistant school."
Favorite Auburn soccer memory?
"Definitely winning the Sweet Sixteen my senior year to go to the Elite Eight for the first time because we got to finish on a high note. That was such a fun time."
How did your experience as an Auburn student-athlete prepare you for life after Auburn?
"It taught me how to handle hardships and how to handle different situations where things don't go your way. I mean in soccer we didn't always get the result we wanted so it taught me how to attack situations like that by just working even harder. The classic, 'giving your best effort and best attitude,' that always helped things turn out better, especially now while I'm trying to get into PA school, I'm not letting myself get down about it. I'm going to work harder and keep a good attitude about it and just give it my all."
Did you consider playing professionally?
"Looking back on it I almost wish we did try because you don't always get that opportunity and it's not something you can wait for and try and go back. Casie and I both are like, 'Dang it, why didn't we at least try for a little bit just to experience it?' Ultimately it came down to the fact that I needed to start getting my work hours and getting my direct patient care hours for school since I obviously wasn't able to work that much; I could shadow, but I couldn't work while I was a student-athlete at Auburn. I just needed to get that started, in my head, I was thinking, 'I want to get into school now.' That was my biggest priority."
Where are you now?
"I am in Dallas, Texas."
What are you doing?
"I am currently working at PricewaterhouseCoopers, so PwC, which is an accounting firm. I'm working in their risk assessment department, which is like IT audit essentially. I've been working for around six months and I've definitely learned a lot and trying to work my way up and get more responsibility. I've definitely met some cool people and have been exposed to a lot in the field, so I'm liking it."
Favorite Auburn soccer memory?
"Definitely making it to the Elite Eight. I just remember that game. Afterward, we were all really excited but it was pretty calm, the feeling was like we knew we should have been there and we knew that we deserved to be in that spot. I think that was cool for everyone to have that same feeling and knowing we were good enough, and making history with the program is always exciting."
How did your experience as an Auburn student-athlete prepare you for life after Auburn?
"It definitely helped me with discipline and time management. Especially going into public accounting; the hours can be crazy and kind of all over the place, so knowing how to manage my time with different tasks and not being afraid to say, 'Hey, I've finished this, what can I help with now?' I'm able to stick it out and be tough. Right now I'm kind of at the bottom of the totem pole being an associate, so it's just taking every day one day at a time. What can I learn? Where can I improve? Just being disciplined in my tasks and putting my best foot forward and all my effort into that, so that hopefully when I do get to a higher level; like senior associate or manager, I'll know what I'm doing and I can help those below me."
Why didn't you play professional soccer?
"It was tough because obviously I loved the game and it was all I knew for twenty plus years. Auburn helped set me up in a position academically and career-wise that enabled me to get a job right out of college. I graduated in August and started two weeks later. It was tough to turn that down because of the opportunity that I had in front of me."
Where are you now?
"Currently I am in Auburn."
What are you doing?
"I'm finishing up my master's in public administration at Auburn University. My concentration is in non-profit administration. I recently just got a job in Nashville, Tennessee, as the Youth Program Manager for a nonprofit called the Nashville International Center for Empowerment (NICE)."
Favorite Auburn soccer memory?
"My favorite Auburn soccer memory was my freshman year when we were playing Alabama in the Iron Bowl for soccer. Basically, we were dominating the entire first half, we were up 3-0 when we went into halftime. We came back out and they scored three goals right off the bat and so that tied it up. We ended up going into overtime. We needed to win this game to secure a bid in the SEC tournament. There was about a minute left in the game, in overtime; and in soccer you can end in a tie, Amy Howard had the ball, she dropped kicked it all the way across the field to Tati (Tatiana Coleman) and she chipped the goalkeeper and scored in the last second of the game. It was pretty sick."
How did your experience as an Auburn student-athlete prepare you for life after Auburn?
"It prepared me in the sense that I knew who I was outside of a student-athlete and that athletics didn't define me. Basically that the needs of the team are greater than your own."
Where are you now?
"Right now I am in Los Angeles, California. I'm actually at County Hospital in LA County."
What are you doing?
"I currently am a first-year medical student at USC and it's crazy. It's nothing that anybody could ever describe to you. Kind of similar to how nobody can describe to you how it feels to be a college athlete. No one can describe to you what medical school is going to be like."
Favorite Auburn soccer memory?
"I have so many. It has to definitely be something to do with my roommates for sure. I think my favorite memory was my freshman year when we had a snow day and school was closed. Alyse, Kala, the Ramsier twins and I made a short movie with our dolls, and we were so lame but we were so bored."
How did your experience as an Auburn student-athlete prepare you for life after Auburn?
"I have incredible time management skills which is why I can also have a job at Lululemon, and I'm able to do that and still get all my stuff done. I work twice a week so it's not that much but it's super fun and something that I get to do because I'm able to prioritize different things and work efficiently because I'm so used to working under a time crunch. I also know how to work in groups because everyone in medical school is completely different; there are no two people who make me think, 'Oh, you guys are kind of like each other.' Everyone is so different so it helps with navigating that situation."
Why didn't you go play professional soccer?
"I think it was the fact that I worked so hard to get into medical school, my whole undergraduate career, everything that I did was to get into medical school. I feel like by taking time off after I had gotten into school and all my hard work had paid off, to take time off to go play professionally, I don't think at the time I wanted to do that."
Ellie Leek, a communications intern this semester for Auburn Athletics, was a teammate of the six seniors from 2016. Ellie, who played for Auburn from 2014-17, graduates in May and will play professional soccer in Iceland.