They say time flies, but as our team hoisted up the conference championship trophy in November 2016, I couldn’t help but think about that first day in August. Of course, I remembered the excruciating two-a-days (plus that extra goalkeeper session). More recently, I remember the chilly night practices under the lights. While my hands may have been numb, I would never quite admit that to these silly southerners. Most importantly, I recalled all the laughs, the songs and the dances that filled the locker room throughout every passing week. Nonetheless, the only thing that I could really think of as we smiled for the paparazzi crowd of parents was, "Damn, how did we get here?"

The drinks that followed later that night (imagine: champagne celebration & players that had waited 7 years for this) only reinforced that feeling of a fleeting moment in time. This may have been because it was one of the first nights that I had been allowed to drink all season, but with every new song, picture and hug of a teammate, there remained a sense of gravity escaping.

So, the season was essentially over, yes. I knew that. However, was I ready for that? I took another slug from the bottle in my hand and tried not to think about it.

Fall athletics are now officially a thing of the past, as it's time to hand the spotlight over to all those eager winter athletes. Whether your team's season finished a bit earlier than expected or ended in the glory and fame of a championship title, at the end of this past weekend, all of us fall athletes have retired our cleats, pads and sticks for the year.

While some of us may still have team lifts or off-season practices, nothing quite compares to the intensity and competition felt in-season. There’s a special atmosphere on game day - a burning desire to make it through classes and get to the locker room, or an early morning wake-up made worth it to see the sleepy faces of your teammates on the bus. The everyday grind is no more: luckily for our grades and sleep schedule, but quite sadly for our in-season bods. It's all truly heartbreaking. Like any human in life, we all go through some type of grief when we lose something important.

Over the course of these last months, it’s likely that your team became your family. You celebrated, you suffered, you laughed and you cried. You came to school earlier than all your peers, and put in twice the amount of work to juggle the never-ending cycle of school, friends, sports and more. While one season may be ephemeral, there remains comfort in knowing that the memories and, more importantly, the relationships, are far from it.

While I posed for another smiling picture with the trophy on the night of our victory party, I found myself repeatedly telling the voice in the back of my head to shut up. The question then was, "Who the (insert expletive here) am I without soccer?"

That night, the answer was someone's beer pong partner. The next day, someone's study buddy. Days after, someone's rush date. My soccer bag remains buried in the bottom of my closet. It was a little disheartening, when I was digging around for a pair heels this weekend and was greeted by an old pal, the smell of my goalie gloves. While my “job title” has changed in my day to day life, I like to think that by closeting my cleats, a newfound freedom has granted me the opportunity to be something original and different every day. While it's back to reality, there's still plenty of time for new fun and games. Best of all, the latest and greatest question, "When can we all get back out there?"