Ozan Paydak '20 Recruiting Profile

    In my opinion, every person has a story, just like a soccer game. In those fleeting 90 minutes, no spectator knows what to expect. It could be filled with early celebrations from bewildering goals, to heartbreak in the last minute from poor, defensive errors. Yet, at the end of the game, win or lose, every fan must dust themselves off, look to the next game, and continue the cycle. Like every story, any team wants a happy ending, to find glory and a purpose. I think I have an idea of what my purpose is, but the final whistle hasn't blown yet, so I have to keep going onwards.

    Soccer has been intertwined with the rest of my life since I was born. This statement is hard for many to swallow when I first tell it to them. Yet, coming from a strong Turkish background, my father considered my birth to be the Turkish soccer team's lucky charm as they ventured to a third place finish in the 2002 World Cup in South Kore/Japan, the best the team has ever done internationally to this date. From there, my involvement with the sport only grew stronger. Whether it was my dad waking me up at 7 in the morning on Saturdays to go practice my ball control at the local field, or meeting new friends by being asked to play soccer in the streets of Izmir, Turkey, soccer has impacted my life to a point where if I dropped the sport, it wouldn't feel like my own life anymore. 

    I know this because I have dropped the sport before, when I was 13 years old and problems with my knees started to occur in relation to Osgood-Schlatter's disease. My parents felt like I couldn't keep up with my peers, as the disease took a huge toll on my knees and limited my capability to run. For two years, I switched to tennis, a sport that wouldn't be as physically damaging on my knees. Those were the hardest two years of my life. I felt like I lost a part of me that had made me who I was. I tried filling the gap with watching soccer games on TV, or getting to see my friends play. By the time I reached the age of 15, I decided I had enough of tennis and began to train and develop my knees on my own, doubling down on the therapy I was already receiving. The goal was for me to try and make my high school varsity team. It was hard work, two years completely off the ball had made me lose touch of the technical ability I had with the ball when I was still playing. When I told my parents my aspirations, I knew they were skeptical, I would be too in their position knowing how I was competing with some kids 4 years older than I was for a single spot on the team. 

    All of the hard work payed off when I saw my name on the team sheet when tryouts were over, and I truly realized how much it meant to the people around me when I saw the looks on my parents' faces when I headed the ball in the back of the net for the first goal of the season as a freshman. Soccer since then has returned to a high standing in my life in the last 3 years of my high school career, with two all conference awards to my name, a conference championship, three state tournament appearances, and being named the current captain of my high school team this year. 

    My journey in relation to soccer has taught me the values of passion, commitment, assertiveness, and dedication, while also reinforcing my school's values of honesty, responsibility, integrity, respect, and honor above all. These values have made an obvious impact in other aspects of my life, especially in school, as demonstrated by my well-maintained 4.6 GPA, a respectable composite score of 33 in the ACT exam and all of the respective awards it has come with. It has also guided me to efficiently conduct volunteering abroad in farms in Turkey or in hospitals back at home. 

    However, my life story is far from over; it is only just beginning. The opportunity of studying at a prestigious college that will prepare me for my future, while giving back to its name by representing it on its soccer team is the next step I want to take in my life. Therefore, thank you kindly for considering me for your soccer program and allowing me to take this next step.