Hello my name is Reagan Illg, and I am a former player for Southern Minnesota Select.

I played with their name on my jersey for 3 years. Since the day of my first tryouts with them I knew it was going to be different than any team I have ever played for. From the beginning everyone was welcoming and most importantly they all cared. It sounds kind of silly to say that, but if you play or have played for Select you know exactly what I am talking about. With a smaller club environment it makes it easier for that cheesy saying "we are all like one big family" to be true because with this team it truly is. I loved that everyone knew everyone's names and you never felt like you weren't being seen by one of the coaches. This type of chemistry definitely helped when making other decisions in my life, such as college. I could've been like many of the other girls I played with and gone on the route of playing college soccer (trust me I considered it) but I knew inside that wasn't me.

Once I made that decision it all came down to the size of the college/university that I wanted to attend. Immediately I had considered staying local and pressing the career that I had found interest in here, but going to a big university was always in the back of my mind. After lots of consideration and lots of conversations with multiple people I had settled on staying at home for college and attending RCTC. It may not be the route that my fellow peers would want to take, but I knew it was what suited me best. Knowing that, this fall I will be attending RCTC (Rochester Community and Technical College) in pursuit of a 2 year degree in Radiography. This degree focuses on taking and performing radiological scans on patients. That is the very straightforward definition of the career and honestly the truth as well, granted you will learn and perform more in the field to make it plain and simple that is what you will do.

If I am being completely straightforward as well, I honestly don't know if this is my forever career. As of right now, that is my plan, but sometimes you just have to let go of plans and let things happen. That is my biggest advice to any underclassmen that are looking at potential colleges right now. It will all end up how it is supposed to be eventually, so just let go.

Going off of that advice, I can relate that to finding a club team that you genuinely like. It took me 3 different clubs to find one that actually fit, so let go of everything a bit and just be yourself when looking for what's right for you. Honestly what all the important people are looking for such as coaches, teachers, or bosses is for someone who is unapologetically themself. So be that person and just let life throw things at you. It will make it a lot more fun in the long run.