Sophia Woodland is a former Division I soccer player from Boston University, where she competed for four years while studying business and minoring in psychology, graduating in 2023. In this episode, Sophia reflects on the reality behind her collegiate career — from feeling voiceless in a difficult team environment her first two years to beginning therapy and learning to separate her self-worth from her performance on the field.

She shares how adopting a new mindset her junior year helped her reclaim some joy, and how a coaching change her senior year allowed her to enjoy the game again. For Sophia, the hardest part of leaving collegiate soccer was leaving the daily access to her teammates and built in community.

Sophia speaks candidly about the importance of coaching culture, power dynamics, and the silence many athlet ...