Cyber CY'd with Emily Hejlik

Every fall, freshmen are making the transition from high school to college. Student-athletes have a completely different experience to share and in this week's Cyber Cy'd Emily Hejlik tells her story.

Hejlik, a West Des Moines, Iowa native has played every minute this season for the Cyclones and gives fans an inside look into the soccer team's past weekend in Illinois. Check back every Wednesday for the soccer team's latest entry in Cyber Cy'd.

Cyber Cy'd with Emily Hejlik

Hey guys! These last couple of weeks have been a transition from high school life and summer living, mixed in with saying goodbye to some of my best friends and family. I have now entered into a new family with the girls on the team along with the coaching staff. Everyone involved has made it so easy to feel comfortable and to be myself. Coming into preseason I had no idea what to expect. We had a few fitness tests, some team bonding activities, and of course, two-a-days. I was challenged physically and mentally in many different ways, but my teammates and I fought through the tough times as a unit and survived our first of many obstacles. I learned so much from the coaches and girls the first few weeks, making me anxious for the season. Each of the freshmen were assigned to stay with upperclassmen for a few days until we were able to move into our dorms. MK (fellow freshman, Mary Kate McLaughlin) and I were housed with (Lauren) Fader, Elise (Reid), and Casey (Bothwell). They helped make our adjustment to the beginning of soccer and college life really easy. Moving into the dorms, as (Amanda) Purple already told you, was quite the experience. It was the final step towards total independence. Even though I am only 45 minutes away from my parents, it feels as though I have entered into a different exciting new world.

My first week of college was short lived because we left on Thursday for our two games in Illinois. Even though the upperclassmen graciously drove me around my classes, I, still of course, got lost!! I am a bit directionally challenged, but have found short cuts and gotten used to where everything is. The two exhibition wins under our belt and all the hard work everyone has put in readied us for our first match against the nationally ranked Illini. We came into the game with a lot of energy and heart and played well for our first match. Everyone fought hard and we created some great chances but we ended up falling short. We proved to ourselves that we can compete with anyone. The coaches couldn't complain about our effort, but we knew that we needed to focus on finishing our chances and playing with a sense of urgency at all times.

Saturday was our day off, filled with practice, family time and team bonding. We went to dinner that night at Chili's and sadly said goodbye to our athletic trainer Steph, who will be moving to Texas to be an athletic trainer for NASA. Everyone made their own scrapbook page to give their thanks to everything that she has done for our team. Sunday morning we played Pittsburgh, hoping to come out with the energy we played with against Illinois. Unfortunately, we came out sluggish in the first half, but were a totally different team in the second half. We had more opportunities than they did, but just couldn't find the back of the net often enough to dig ourselves out of the hole we made. We now know the mentality and type of team that we need to be to compete at the highest level.

"The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital."- Joe Paterno.

This upcoming week we have a split weekend against DePaul in Chicago and Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. I am excited and motivated to get back onto the field.

You may occasionally hear some of my teammates calling me Ron, after my favorite player Ronaldinho and the greatest movie of all time, Anchorman. This morning was our first morning off and I decided to have breakfast in my dorm room. I happened to have sour milk with my Wheaties.

Milk was a bad choice.

Stay Classy!

Ron