An overwhelming peace

John Brown University? Where on earth is that?

This was my initial reaction, when I first received an invitation to come out for the women's soccer ID camp the summer before my senior year of high school. Growing up in New Mexico, I had never even been to Arkansas, so when I found myself on an airplane flying out to Siloam Springs, I could not help but thinking I was making a big mistake.

I learned about a team that was truly built with the Lord being at the absolute center.

I had never wanted to play soccer in college. I had a plan to attend nursing school at the University of New Mexico and to stay in my hometown, where I had spent my whole life. Sure, I loved playing soccer, but I had given up playing club soccer early in high school and instead was running track and field in the spring and playing high school soccer in the fall. I was content being done with sports after high school.

However, when I was sitting in a classroom during the soccer camp and the head coach was going over the team's core values, my mindset started shifting. I learned about a team that was truly built with the Lord being at the absolute center. I learned about a team where the girls truly put their teammates ahead of themselves. I learned about a team that pursued excellence both on and off the soccer field. I found myself thinking that I could see myself playing soccer on such a team. On my last day at camp, I sat looking at Alumni Field and just felt an overwhelming peace come over me, but I did not think there was any way that I would end up here. The Lord provided a way, however, and now I cannot imagine how different my life would be if I had not come to JBU.

Despite this, I remember sitting in my dorm room for the first time after moving in for preseason, struggling with being fearful. I had moved over 700 miles away from everyone I knew. I had left everything familiar and comfortable. But, over the next four years I gained so much, including lifelong friends and many memories. Every fitness test I ran, every hard practice, every game was an opportunity for me to glorify the Lord and also to take my eyes off of myself and to look at my teammates beside me.

I learned through my time as a Golden Eagle that soccer was so much more than wins and losses. Soccer was a platform by which our team could share the love of Christ with one another, the opposing teams, our campus, our neighboring communities and even other countries.

My time here has been so much more than just athletics. As a nursing major, I was nervous about balancing the schedule of a student-athlete and going through an intense nursing school program. The importance of academics was highly emphasized by Coach Paulsen, as she would remind us that school was always more important than athletics. During my time in nursing school, I was overwhelmed by the amount of support I received from my coaches, teammates, classmates, friends and professors. I spent countless hours studying on bus rides to and from soccer games or in hotel lobbies. Whenever I would begin to feel weary or stressed, my teammates and coaches would encourage me and spoke life and truth into me. My professors were also extremely supportive and accommodating of my athletic schedule but also pushed me to be the best student and nurse that I could be.

I loved my time playing soccer at JBU. I am so thankful for every person who poured so much life into me. While I am sad that this stage of my life has come to an end, I am excited for all that the Lord has in store for me, and I will be taking the life lessons I learned from my time on the JBU women's soccer team with me wherever I go.

-- Sarah Hughes, the 2020 recipient of the prestigious Excellence in Nursing Award, will graduate this spring with her nursing degree. She plans on marrying her college sweetheart, Dalton Baker, and the two will explore options in Nashville or Austin to call home as Sarah begins her nursing career. The opinions expressed are those of the author.