She sits in class fidgeting. Thinking of the rush she’ll get from it later. Her solace.

She finds herself thinking about it most of the day, how could she not? It is her addiction, one she found fit to do with the older crowd. The more experienced, people who have been doing it longer than her. For her, it’s been going on for seven years, half of her life. It’s a family thing. Something she wants her kids to do from a young age and as they get older. Soccer is her drug.

Roxana Vigil,a freshman, is relatively quiet, until you get to know her. She seems older, easily passing for a sophomore or junior rather than the freshman she is. She takes a few honors classes, French 1-2, Physical Education, and guitar, all of them she enjoys. Vigil also enjoys playing soccer for the varsity team. No doubt the result of tireless dedication to her favorite activity.

She does not let this get to her head, however, saying the fact she is on the team on the team at that age does not mean she is better, only as good as her teammates. She does not exclude the JV players because they are at different levels of expertise, only encourages them. “It isn’t so much that I care what team I’m on, just that my teammates have my back and I have theirs,” Vigil says.

“I love how she doesn’t have a chip on her shoulder because she’s on a higher level team as JV,” says Sharley Mendoza, sophomore and JV player. “She pushes me and I become a better player because of that.”

Varsity coach Chris Viri, though the season will not start for another week or so, has seen improvement since the beginning of preconditioning. “She’s grown, meshing well with players she wasn’t very comfortable with in the beginning. She’s going to be a great player.”

“I get a lot of crap for being on varsity,” Vigil says smiling. The varsity team often refers to her as “freshie” and are always looking for a way to give her a hard time. She is expected to put as much effort and time as the other players, a good portion of whom were on JV for their freshman and sophomore years. For this she feels she needs to prove herself at every practice, pushing herself to the best of her abilities. Though every second of it is enjoyed.

Spending time with older girls, she says, has made her more mature. She thinks more of how her grades will affect her in the long run rather than the popular “I have four years to fix that” most freshman will say. It also gives her peace of mind when speaking in front of larger crowds, to do it confidently. She sets important long term goals instead of petty short term goals. She plans to remain on the team all during high school and maybe in college though she does not want to be a professional soccer player. She wishes to study health and become a nurse or veterinarian.

Vigil will remain a role model throughout her life,to people older or younger. She will make mistakes but the way she handles them will reveal her character.

“Nobody is perfect, especially not myself. I’m going to make mistakes, but I’m going to be me.”

Though Vigil admits she will struggle along the way, being surrounded by an older crowd provides her with the motivation to push beyond her limits.