As cliché as it sounds, when I was a little girl I had dreams of being a princess. I wanted to be Belle from “Beauty and the Beast” because I loved her intellect and passion for books.
As I got older, my dreams became a bit more grounded in reality. I wanted to follow my love for sports and become a professional soccer player. Then, after I concluded my varsity soccer career at Bellaire High School, my ultimate and most realistic dream hit me — to become the new Erin Andrews.
However, somewhere between dreams two and three I discovered where I wanted to pursue my collegiate education to achieve that ultimate goal: THE Texas A&M University.
Between the ages of 13 and 16, I attended the Aggie Soccer Camp. I was coached by A&M head coach G Guerrieri and counseled by members of the then-women’s soccer team roster.
I vividly remember the girls showing us campers their rings and what they meant to each of them. What amazed me about this wasn’t just the ring itself, but that it meant something different to each woman.
Needless to say, after attending my first camp, I was hooked. I knew I wanted to become an Aggie and get my Aggie Ring. Looking back now, my times at camp stayed with me through high school. Once I realized I wanted to become a sports journalist in high school, I further reflected on my time at these camps and realized I didn’t want to just be any journalist.
I want to be the kind of journalist to cover coaches like Guerrieri and athletes like those on the women’s soccer team who selflessly give up weeks of their summers to counsel young girls who also share a love for the sport.
Now that I have successfully completed 90 hours with two minors and a 3.82 GPA, I am halfway to achieving my dream of being a successful female sports journalist. This has certainly not been without its obstacles, including being quite literally told to go “back in the kitchen” while balancing a heavy workload on top of being a philanthropy officer for my sorority.
Additionally, during the middle of production for the 2021 Maroon Life Fall Sports Magazine, I faced my biggest hardship of all: my grandpa passing away due to heart failure exacerbated by COVID-19, despite being fully vaccinated. Pops was one of my biggest supporters. Hell, he was one of the reasons I decided to pursue a career in the sports industry and to attend A&M even though I was originally accepted through the Blinn Team program in 2018.
But still, I persevered.
After joining The Battalion as a sports writer in the fall of 2018, I stuck with the career path and slowly advanced. I went from writing weekly articles for the sports desk to currently serving as one of the co-sports editors for The Battalion. I have an entire sports desk at my charge, have led the football content for two years in a row and appeared on national television on the SEC Network to discuss A&M football.
But I’ve also remained true to my vision and covered many women’s sports, including volleyball, basketball and, of course, soccer.
Now that I am getting my Aggie Ring, I have officially achieved something I’ve wanted since I was a little girl. I’ve started reaching my dreams, but I won’t stop until I fulfill all of them.
To me, my Aggie Ring symbolizes my dreams. It symbolizes that I will not stop until I make each of them a reality. And above all else, this one’s for you, Pops.
Jennifer Streeter is a journalism senior and co-sports editor for The Battalion.