The BIG LIFE S5E3 | What Nobody Tells You About Being a College Athlete

The soccer season is underway. Now add classes, homework, roommates, travel, playing time, exhaustion and an actual social life to the mix. In Episode 3 of The BIG LIFE, Paige Thompson (Alabama) and Jaiden Rodriguez (USC) get honest about what happens when preseason ends and being a student-athlete suddenly means being a STUDENT again. Paige recaps Alabama’s huge road wins over Saint Louis and Memphis — including snapping Memphis’ 41-game home winning streak with a goal in the final seconds — while Jaiden reflects on USC’s early-season games and the lessons that come from getting a serious wake-up call against a top team. Then the conversation gets real. Paige and Jaiden talk about balancing classes with training, the sacrifices that come with being a college athlete, dorm and roommate life, playing time, confidence, managing emotions after a tough game and why two teammates living under the same roof can be having completely different college soccer experiences. They also check in on the college soccer rankings, make predictions for some of the biggest upcoming games and answer a few questions about what nobody tells you before you become a college athlete. In this episode: • Alabama’s dramatic road win over Memphis • The reality of travel and early-season games • Going back to class while playing Division I soccer • Time management, sleep and sacrificing your social life • Dorms, roommates and finally having your own space • What happens when one roommate plays 90 minutes and another plays zero • Handling frustration and conversations with your coach • Confidence, overthinking and learning to “play free” • Paige’s game-day reminder: “Play big. Be you.” • Early college soccer rankings and upcoming games • What they wish someone had told them before college The BIG LIFE takes you inside college soccer through the players actually living it. New episodes every week with Paige + Jaiden. #TheBIGLIFE #CollegeSoccer #NCAASoccer #StudentAthlete #GirlsSoccer