Go With the Flow

OPINION: By Jewelia Zaragoza

Simpson University has been my home since the fall of 2021.

Photo/Natalie Brown Photography

I wanted a university that was close to home and had a Christian community. I came to Simpson to be a goalkeeper for the women’s soccer team. I was very quiet and stuck to myself with a few close friends. Business was my declared major at the time.  

I got depressed my first semester. Playing soccer was no longer something I enjoyed. My grades fell through. I was staying in my room more. I was going home almost every weekend. My mom came to pick me up one weekend. 

“You look like crap,” she said when she saw me.  

I decided to stop playing soccer. It was a hard decision to make. Not because I was letting my mom down by not playing, but I thought I was letting my teammates and my coach down.  

Joining student leadership was a great opportunity to fill my time and dive into the culture Simpson was building. I was a member of the Community Outreach, which was a section of Spiritual Formation, now known as the Spiritual Engagement Team. The classes I was  taking were not my favorite. I changed my major from Business to Communication with a specialization in Public Relations and a minor in Digital Media. The academic side of Simpson was now something I was thriving in. My family also moved to Texas in the middle of the Fall semester my sophomore year. 

I enjoyed my time on student leadership but felt the absence of being an athlete. My junior year I became a Residential Assistant for the underclassmen dorms.  

Dr. Hall saw me one day and asked if I missed being an athlete. He asked if I would be interested in running track. 

He said, “I know the coach.”  

It’s funny because the track coach, Jonathon Hall, is Dr. Halls’ son. I got in contact with the coach and decided to join the track team. When I joined the team, I thought I would be sprinting and maybe doing throwing work. My coach asked me to run at the conference race with the Cross-Country team to add to the number of athletes competing. I ran two races; one at Willam Jessup University and the other at Woodward Park for the conference race. I was miserable running the race at Jessup because there was this giant dirt hill. I had no prior training. I ran the conference race and beat my previous time by almost eight minutes.  

I finished the race and said “Coach! I just did that. Imagine what I could do if I actually trained.”  

That changed the events that I was doing for track. Mid-distance races were now my events. I worked diligently on getting faster times in the 400m, 800m, and 1500m. I got a personal record in almost every race I had ran.  

Before senior year, I made the decision not to do anything in student leadership. I wanted to have an easy last year. This includes being on the worship team, running cross country and track, and working on my studies. As I am in the Spring semester, I do not regret my decision to not partake in Student Leadership.  

It is my final semester of my college career. I am taking classes that I enjoy. Our worship team is the most talented we have been. I am rocking the 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m races, javelin, and discus in track. I also started doing more sports photography. I have found the things that I love that I want to continue pursuing.  

Before the start of Spring semester, during Winter break, we found out that my mom has breast cancer. If you did not know, my dad died from lung cancer almost eight years ago. Death from cancer is all that I know. I have had a hard time this semester staying on top of my grades when school is the last thing on my mind when my mom is home doing chemo. Things that I have really enjoyed are track and photography. These are things that I get to choose to do. I look forward going to track practice because I turn my brain off and only focus on what I am doing there. Part of it is I am in pain that I physically can’t think about anything else (LOL).  

Within the last two years I have picked up photography. I absolutely love it. I have been able to photograph: football, men’s volleyball, men’s basketball, beach volleyball, track and field, and football. Although they are all fun to photograph with their different sceneries and styles, I enjoy photographing football the most. Taking pictures of the athletes in their element, doing the thing they love, and seeing the joy and excitement on their faces makes me happy. I have to take time out of my days to go to games and practices. I have to edit after the events. It is all worth it to me.  

I sit here at a Starbucks in Lake Oswego, OR for a track meet trying to finish all of my missing assignments and essays before the end of the semester. I should have done them when they were due, but senior year, too many things are going on. I am just trying to graduate at this point.  

As my time at Simpson comes to an end, here’s some advice I wish I had starting college. Try everything. Go to every event. Go outside of your room. Try not to go home every weekend. Make friends but don’t try to be friends with everyone. You will make lifelong friends in college, and you will also meet people that you will never see again. Don’t sweat the small stuff, it will always work out. If you want something, don’t take no for an answer, keep pushing for it. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.  

As we say in my family, “It’s not lung cancer”. You can do anything. 

Peace Out Simpson