Senior Ava Cholakian has been a member of NDB’s varsity soccer team since her freshman season in 2015. For an athlete that plays at least fifteen hours a week, there needs to be a dedication, love, and passion for the sport. Cholakian’s comes from her desire to improve.

She says, “I love making a good first touch or scoring a goal that wasn’t meant to be one. It reminds me why I put in so much work.”

Cholakian has been playing for a long time, deciding on soccer when she was in the third grade and made it onto her first club team.

Her hard work through the year has finally paid off, especially through the competitive college recruiting process. She began to feel discouraged when she did not get the attention of any of the big division one schools during her junior year.

With her mother, she visited the University of Puget Sound and fell in love with the school, especially its beautiful campus.

Cholakian said, “I wasn’t interested at all until I actually saw the campus. It’s stunning. It’s very old and has a lot of brick buildings.”

She reached out to the university’s soccer coach, and he attended a showcase to watch her play.

Cholakian says, “I called him the Monday after the weekend, which he told me he wanted me on his team and could see me playing my freshman year. I told my parents. They happily agreed with my decision to go there, and I called him back on Wednesday to verbally commit to his team.”

While it was difficult and she faced some disappointment, she trusted in the process, and it all worked out in her favor.

However, we cannot expect her hard work to stop here. When asked about expectations for this season’s NDB soccer team, she answered, “A lot of hard work. We’re not the best team, but we work the hardest. Hopefully, we’ll have a lot of goals, as well as being the fittest team in the league.”

Cholakian continued, “I’m looking forward to winning league and hopefully winning CCS as well.”

As she enters her last season at NDB, she wants to savor every moment, specifically with her teammates.

She said, “We grow so close and it makes the bond and team so much stronger.” She added that playing as a team and becoming closer friends is her favorite part of soccer.

As she and the team continue to put in the hard work, one can hope it pays off throughout the season. Cholakian is so excited to have the chance to play at NDB and is grateful and excited to have the opportunity to play in college.