Jillian Arriola

Hi my name is Jillian Arriola and I am a freshman on the UCSB Women’s soccer team. August 17, 2018 was our first game of the season and within the first 4 minutes of the game, I was running towards the ball and suddenly went down to the ground. I heard a loud snapping sound and immediately knew that I had torn my ACL. I’ve had knee injuries prior to this one and they never felt like that. I was in the most pain I have ever been in. While I was sitting on the bench my trainer confirmed that I did tear my ACL. My mind couldn’t wrap around the idea of me not being able to play for almost a year. I was in shock and kept wondering why this had happened to me. I am now 10 months post op and looking back I have grown as a person. This type of adversity has made me stronger both physically and mentally. Although this was a setback and not the way I wanted my first college season to turn out, I do believe everything happens for reason. I overcame the hardest challenge in my soccer career and I’m ready to come back stronger this season.