Dream big! "Create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life, because you become what you believe," Oprah Winfrey. My dream is to be a professional goalkeeper on the USA National Women’s team, the USWNT! Yes, perhaps a common dream for a youth soccer player, however, how many people actually go on to achieve this? According to a recent NCAA survey, only .04% of high school soccer players will play professionally at any level. So, why is my dream any different?  I believe that the more specific and challenging our goals are, the higher our motivation and when you have something to believe in and prove to yourself, you become unstoppable. As Simon Sinek shared, “how do you explain when others are able to achieve things that seem to defy all of the assumptions? It’s because they are driven by the cause, a belief, a purpose.”

My story starts in a medical office at one of the top Universities in California and a two-letter word that packed a lot of power. This journey and dream starts with, “No.” The word at first glance may seem simple however it carries such an invisible force. Words truly are the most singularly powerful force available to humanity and the words we choose to use can affect the feelings, emotions, and possible outcomes of those around us. For me, this word fueled this overwhelming power and will inside me to surface.  But before I get too much into this I should start with what brought me to that medical office at Stanford University.

It all started at the age of six when I went from a typical healthy kid to a child who knew the ins and outs of the medical system before the age of 10. I had for some reason stopped sweating on my own and started to faint. I could lose all feeling in my lower legs and lived with daily brain fog, gut issues, and migraines. One of my earliest memories where my body started to rebel against me was at a local subway sandwich shop. I had fainted as my mom was ordering lunch after a long day at a YCMA summer camp. Luckily, my mom has ninja-like reflexes and caught me before I hit my head on my way down.  After that day it would be months and months of medical testing, appointments, and days missed at school. And after seeing 16 different physicians and specialists, I was referred to Stanford University.

This brings me back to the power behind our words and how they can provide strength or discouragement. They can produce confidence or fear. So, who did this physician think he was, standing before me, just meeting me for the first time, and telling me,” No.” “No,” to my dreams and hopes to not only give up soccer but to take away my future soccer career. Why did he get to decide whether or not my body could handle being physically active with this condition he was trying to label me with? Did he not know the amount of time I spent training and dreaming about making it on the US Woman’s National team? And why was he underestimating me, especially after only meeting me for the first time?

This word, his unfathomable no, was of course at first unsettling and for a split-second debilitating, but then it quickly went to life-changing, as this overwhelming feeling came over me and it was crystal clear what I was going to do, what I was meant to do! I was not only going to prove to this physician but also anyone else who doubted me along the way that my dream, my mission was stronger than any condition I was going to be diagnosed with. I was not going to let a label define me! So, I naturally said back to him, “No!” However, my intonation and tone of voice was much different than his. It kind of shocked me as I was a very shy kid at the time and I couldn’t believe I had said that in that manner. I just couldn’t fathom hearing that the gate to my pitch-perfect dream was trying to be taken away like this and by someone, I just met. I then blurted out, “Goalkeeper,” “I’ll stop playing as a forward and midfielder.” The doctor then paused and took a few minutes looking down as if he was thinking about this. Perhaps, the seriousness in my face also made him leery of what would happen next if he continued with his, “No.”  He then said, “This could work,” as it would require less running and overexertion, but explained it would be a difficult road and there were no guarantees it would go in my favor. He explained his reasoning, however, by that point, the wheels were turning so fast in my head about doing whatever it took to go all the way, and to the national level one day that I stopped listening. I was beyond determined, as I have such a fire in my belly!  And since this day I’ve been competing, training, altering my lifestyle to make it to the top. I have had to make sacrifices along the way to be an athlete with my condition which has caused some people to question whether it is worth it. “The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” To train, compete, and play a sport, I have to avoid all other activities that exhaust energy before and after a training or a game. This is due to the mitochondrial response my body struggles with. Simple things like team bonding activities before or after a game, sleepovers, shopping trips, or just hanging outside with friends are things I must forgo. Instead of dwelling on this, I focus on all the things I am getting out of pushing myself to achieve my dreams.

I'm beating all the odds so far with making on my club’s 2008 ECNL team (Elite Clubs National League), Calnorth ODP (Olympic Development Program), and PDP (Player Development Program) soccer teams. I have won several Keeper War tournaments and competed at a US Regional ODP tryout in Colorado. I was also recently nominated to attend a National Training Camp! As Marta Vieira da Silva, commonly known as Marta, (Brazilian footballer) phrased it, “Never give up, and be confident in what you do. There may be tough times, but the difficulties which you face will make you more determined to achieve your objectives and to win against all the odds. I am getting to travel around the United States and meet new people and see new places. The experiences and memories along the way outweigh the scarifies. Honestly, the best symptom management practice I’ve learned is to instead focus on my mission, my purpose, my dream, and that Stanford physician saying, No. And by the way, the doc and I now have a great patient, doctor relationship. After getting to know me and my will and passion to pursue my dreams he has been right by my side helping me achieve this as well as cheering me on. Actually, all of his staff are too at the Stanford Automatic Labs!

I truly cherish every minute and opportunity that I have on the pitch and never take any of this time for granted and it only fuels my dream to play for the USNWT. I understand that it could have gone much differently but like Simon stated, “It’s because they are driven by the cause, a belief, a purpose,” when he spoke about how others achieve things that seem to defy all of the assumptions. My eyes are on the prize at all times and I know what my end game is so you haven’t heard the last of Aubrey McLin!