AnnMarie Depenbrock '22 Recruiting Profile

when I was a freshman in high school, I thought that I had it all figured out.  Because I live in a smaller area making the varsity soccer team wasn't to difficult, but I treated it like I was winning the lottery. not only did I play full games for the junior varsity team as a starting forward, but I would head straight from that game on over to the varsity team where I would be starting back defense. I have been playing with the big dogs my whole life, all the way back to fifth grade when I played on a club team with all guys.  Because of this early exposure, and always being the smallest, and youngest on the team, I have had to grow up and learn my place very quickly in life. I know what it feels like to be disliked because I stole the spot of someone much older and more experienced than me, and I know what it feels like to want to give up and quit.  

Like I said freshmen year was great and I was king of the mountain but that all ended when I got hurt that very summer. I was playing in this adult fundraising charity tournament with my family when I collided knees with another person so hard that my tibia cracked. At the time I thought I was very lucky to still have my ACL intact thanks to all the training I had been doing but, after eight months of physical therapy and an unlucky car accident, I ended up tearing my Pcl and Plc beyond simple repairing. The whole thing was a fluke and the doctors told me they had only cases like this once or twice, whereas a simple ACL surgery happens every day.  You might be wondering why I would want to talk about this story if it was so painful and tragic, but I want people to know this about me so that they can understand how much I have changed in a little over a year and a half.  I went from being a follower and a "sheep" as my dad puts it. Someone who does what they are told and plays the sport for competitiveness, not the actual love.  being on crutches and doctor's tables for over a year made me learn what it means to be a leader and lead not necessary from on the field but from off the field.  Playing college soccer has been something I have been debating since the day my knee broke. I constantly ask myself if I am good enough or if I am what I used to be. I am indeed not that same freshmen varsity player. I have grown up and am ready to take on the challenges of college sports and academics.  I aspire to one day become a successful veterinarian and open up my own practice for mixed animals big and small.  I choose to lead by example both on and off the field and would like to consider my self as tuff as a lion.  Thanks to my father who coached me for half of my life, I am used to the extra stress and pressure put on me to be the best and am not afraid to back down from anything.  I had a year off of rest and rehabilitation and am ready to put myself back in the game.