Joshua Bien '26 Recruiting Profile

We are a sports-oriented family and sports have always been a great outlet for me as an athlete with ADHD.  My mother played Division 1 basketball in Kentucky, and I am a multi-sport athlete competing in soccer, basketball, and earned varsity points for track in the high jump.  In June 2023, I had the opportunity to compete in the AAU National Basketball Championships for my age group in Hampton, VA.  Since I started playing at age 4, soccer has always been my passion and favorite sport.  As a freshman in high school, I made the varsity soccer team. I was so happy about this accomplishment, and I couldn't wait to start playing! When the season started, I was playing decent minutes and was very happy with how I was playing.  However, as we entered league play and contention for a playoff spot, my playing time dropped significantly. This was a pretty crushing blow to me as a player and as a person. After the first 2 or 3 games that I didn't play, I started to really ramp up my work ethic in practice. Going into Sophomore year, I started to play more as a center back, and earned my spot as a starting center back a few games into the season. I played every minute of every game after I began starting, and played a crucial role on the team. Ever since I was a little kid, soccer has been easy for me. I had always wanted to do my absolute best and try as hard as I could to be great. When I was six, my dad told me that he would buy me a backyard goal if I could get 20 juggles in a row. That week, I tried for hours to reach that milestone, and I finally did. I used that net for years, going outside for hours a day and ripping shots from every angle imaginable until the frame bent and the net had so many holes it was unusable. Every Sunday morning since before I could remember, I would watch premier league games with my dad, and I would be in love with the game. I put so much time into soccer because I truly loved the game. Unfortunately, this work ethic didn’t translate over to all aspects of my life.

            Going to 9th grade, I signed up for all Honors classes. It seemed like a great idea because all my life, school was never that hard for me, and so I decided to really challenge myself. By the end of the first quarter, my grades started slipping as the workload got harder. I was not working as hard as I should have, and it was coming back to haunt me. My ADHD was making it very hard for me to focus. I had never been tested this much before academically, and it was really showing. I felt lost and didn't know what to do. My freshman year taught me a very valuable lesson: Asking for help when you need it, building good habits, and having discipline are vital to reaching your goals. Going through the rest of my high school life, I will take this message with me and translate it over to not only the pitch, but also the classroom. This is why I want to play in college. I want to be able to train as hard as I can and compete at the highest level possible. I want to go to a school that will academically challenge me and will also be a great fit. I want to be able to choose my own path and decide how I want my life to go.

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