Freshman biology major Adanna Edwards from Ferguson High School in Miami, Florida joined the women’s soccer team this fall. After an impressive win against nationally ranked Embry-Riddle, I talked to Edwards about her transition into her new life at NSU.
Why did you chose to study Biology? Do you know what you want to do yet?
“Not exactly; but when I was playing soccer, ever since I was little, I always got hurt. So, my initial thought process when I liked medicine was I thought that if I hurt myself, I could fix myself. But it’s interesting and I like to help people.”
How long have you been playing soccer?
“Since I was five, so 13 years.”
Who got you into it? Do you have a big soccer family?
“My dad got me into it. We had a big soccer family. My dad played in college and two of my uncles played in college, one of my cousins actually plays for the under-17 Jamaican National Team so [we’re] definitely a big, big soccer family.”
What position do you play?
“Forward.”
Have you always played forward?
“No, I started out as a defender and my position switched around 8th grade [or] freshman year in high school.”
Was it your coach who just decided to throw you up there?
“Yeah, initially they had tried to switch me like a year before but it didn’t work out so they were like “‘Okay we’ll wait,’ and they tried it again the next year.”
How did you end up at Nova? Was it your first choice?
“It was actually kind of funny because I had visited Barry which is another school in the conference and one of my old club soccer teammates went there so I was leaning toward Barry, and then out of the blue Coach called me and was like ‘Hey, have you committed yet?’ and I’m like ‘Oh, I’m in the talks with Barry, though,’ and then I visited the school [NSU] and I absolutely loved the campus, I loved everything about the school and Coach is really funny.”
Were you nervous to play in your collegiate debut against North Alabama?
“Nervous? The one thing in my head was ‘kay, do not mess up, just do what you’re supposed to do.’”
Obviously, you did that because you scored and assisted. How did it feel when you scored?
“At first, I thought I was offsides because the ref was doing some weird move but then I looked at the linesmen and the linesman’s’ flag was down I was like ‘kay I’m on’ and then everyone started cheering so then I was like ‘kay it’s a goal.’”
What is it like playing collegiate vs. high school and club soccer?
“I hated high school soccer but I liked club. The level is higher obviously and there is a bit more accountability to what happens. Like if this is your job and you fail to do your job then you need to fix that like immediately. In my club toward the end, people stopped caring and that enraged me greatly. I was so annoyed, because I still obviously wanted to have numbers at practice and toward the end of the year we would have like five or six girls coming to practice and I found that such a waste of time. Also, we have so many people on the roster that even with people injured we can still have a strong squad. I remember in club if three or four players were injured we were at a major disadvantage so that’s also great.”
What has been your hardest adjustment since coming to college? Soccer wise or school wise?
“Every time I walk to the UC there is like a sidewalk that’s raised and I always trip over it. But besides that, it’s mainly figuring out time, like managing my time and figuring out how quickly I must do it.”
What has been your favorite part about being a part of NSU athletics so far?
“I don’t know; I really like everything to be honest. I guess my favorite part is just how everyone on the team really wants to win. Everyone has the right mindset, no one is here like ‘whatever.’ Everyone is here to win and I like it.”
