B.S. in Nutrition student, Life U Women’s Soccer player

“On the ball”

As the youngest of five siblings, Sara Diaz probably learned early on about the dynamics of a team, the little team that is her family unit. Her parents are Puerto Rican natives with three kids born in Puerto Rico before moving stateside and giving birth to her older sister and herself in Georgia. As an Alpharetta resident, Diaz knew of Life University (Life U) mainly because of its Doctor of Chiropractic program. Since Diaz didn’t have the desire to become a chiropractor, she hadn’t really considered Life U as a possibility to continue into higher education and athletics until the head coach of Life U’s Women’s Soccer program, Meg McGonigle, approached her to see if becoming a Running Eagle would suit her.

“I came to look at the campus and fell in love with it. It was so beautiful. I loved how close it was to home. Whenever I talked to any staff, they would all be so sweet and so welcoming,” Diaz said.

And after learning about Life U’s comprehensive nutrition program, she was sold. Her interest in how food meets nutritional requirements and how to turn that into a profession naturally lead her to see how the nutrition program can help her achieve her goals. Life U is fully equipped to meet her academic, professional and recreational needs. She has special interests related to dietetics, eating disorder therapy and mental health.

In regard to soccer, Diaz feels right at home with her teammates and coaches. In particular, she loves the diversity of the group and how many international students are part of the program, as it exposes her to new cultures and perspectives.

“It’s been great to be honest. Everyone is so helpful, especially with academics and being able to play soccer. They give us a lot of resources to be able to be successful both on and off the pitch. I love how everyone in athletics is also so close and everyone supports each other,” Diaz said.

Diaz remarked that she has appreciated the flexibility she has experienced with her classes, the ability to reach out to teachers and coordinate assignments to work with her packed student-athlete game, practice and travel schedule. She has also found the Blackboard portal to be helpful as it keeps all her assignments organized until she is ready to turn them in. She hasn’t started her major-related classes yet, so she looks forward to starting those very soon.

If she could go back and give advice to herself at the start of her undergraduate program, she would encourage herself to invest in time management and communication skills.

“I used to be so scared of asking the smallest questions like ‘Hey, can you help me with this? ‘But now that I’m here, I’m so open to talking to the counselors, to my coaches and my professors about getting all the help that I need to be able to succeed,” Diaz said.